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Outlook: Students by day and hostage negotiators by night

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Miles Hargrove and team planning negotiations to rescue his father from kidnappers

16/08/2023 GMT

Students by day and hostage negotiators by night

BBC World Service - Outlook, Students by day and hostage negotiators by night

Miles Hargrove asked his old school friend to negotiate with his dad’s kidnappers

Miles Hargrove needed someone he could trust, who was fluent in Spanish to negotiate with his dad’s Farc kidnappers. So he turned to his old school friend Robert Clerx.

In 1994 Robert Clerx was studying in Colombia, when an old school friend, Miles Hargrove asked him for a very large favour. To help him buy back his father. The boys had been friends since Miles and his family had moved to Colombia from America for his dad’s job. Then Miles’ dad was kidnapped by the Farc guerrilla group, who demanded a six million dollar ransom and would only negotiate with family or a friend. But the family didn’t feel confident that their Spanish was good enough to take on such a delicate and risky task. So they asked for Robert's help. Miles' film about their ordeal is called: Miracle Fishing.

This interview was first broadcast in 2020. 

(Picture: Miles Hargrove and team planning rescue negotiations. Credit: Miles Hargrove)

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