I Was a Hostage
“Ask your God for everything to come out all right!” Those words were coming from a stranger who, just hours before, had held me—a helpless woman—tightly by the neck, threatening me with a hand grenade. Outside, police sharpshooters were aiming their guns at where I was being held. I was a hostage in a bank in Guatemala City!
The man exclaimed in a loud voice: “Don’t anybody move! This is a holdup! I want all the money!” He shouted to the police: “Don’t shoot. This is not a toy I have in my hand. If you shoot, I won’t be the only one dead. All of us will be blown to bits!”
I PRAYED to Jehovah God, asking him to help me, as I felt that I was losing my composure. I asked him to help me be calm and to endure the ordeal. I remembered that he is a strong tower that the righteous run to for protection.—Proverbs 18:10.
Upon regaining my composure, I noticed that the bank employees, as well as the customers, had succeeded in getting out. Only the security guards, the holdup man, and I were left. Then the security guards were allowed to leave.
After some time, four unarmed men were allowed to enter, among them a psychologist (as I later learned) and a reporter. Both of them asked the man questions, such as why he was acting this way. He replied that he was doing it out of vengeance because some institutions had treated him badly.
Identifying Myself
At that point I was looking serene, so the psychologist began to interrogate me. He asked the names of my parents and my brothers and sisters. I identified myself as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and as the oldest of five children in whom Christian parents had inculcated Bible principles.
As the night wore on, the four men went out one by one. I asked my captor to permit me to leave also. His reply was negative. He added: “Don’t worry. Everything will be all right. They’ll give me what I want, and then you can go home.” I answered: “They won’t give you anything. They’ll kill us. Please, let’s go out.” But he said: “I prefer to die, and if necessary we’ll both die.”
Remembering what he had said earlier, I tried to reason with him: “Was I present when they harmed you?” “No,” he said. “Then why do I have to pay for something that I didn’t do?” I asked. He answered: “It’s fate. If we have to die here, we’ll die.” But I responded: “It’s not fate. It’s you who have the idea in your head that you have to die. Jehovah is a God of love; he forgives us. He’s giving us the opportunity to save ourselves because his purpose hasn’t changed. He will again make this earth a paradise.”
At that moment someone entered the bank and urged the holdup man to give himself up, saying: “Let’s negotiate. Let Siomara leave. Take the money on the counter and from the safe, and let’s leave together so they won’t harm you.” But my captor responded negatively.
Not an Accomplice
Hours went by. Then, suddenly, I heard a man speaking through a megaphone, saying: “Give yourselves up! You can’t win. Come out with your hands up. Tell the holdup man to give himself up. You’re not a hostage. You’re an accomplice! Don’t pretend anymore!” Frightened, I cried out: “What gives you the right to accuse me?” The voice replied: “We’ve been observing you, how calm you are. Anyone else in your place wouldn’t be that way.”
Upon hearing this, I made mention of Jehovah’s name out loud and prayed. Then I said to the accuser who was on the megaphone: “You’ll carry this on your conscience the rest of your life, since you’re accusing me of something for which you have no proof.” Later I learned that a Guatemalan newspaper and a TV station had also reported that I was apparently an accomplice.
At this moment my captor interrupted: “Stop bothering her! She has nothing to do with me! I found her here, and she’s only following my orders.”
It came to my mind that Jehovah has not given us a spirit of cowardice but a spirit of power and soundness of mind. (2 Timothy 1:7) This filled me with courage, as did the knowledge that I was not alone. I felt relieved deep inside and thought: ‘If we live, we know that it is for Jehovah, and if we die, it is also for him.’—Romans 14:8.
After midnight I again asked my captor if he had changed his mind. When he replied that he had not, I mentioned my family. I told him that I loved them, that I did not want to leave them even though I knew that if it was Jehovah’s will, I would see them again in the new world. At that, the holdup man told me to pray to God and ask Him for everything to come out all right.
From outside the bank, it seemed that some of the police were trying to tell me something. Later I found out that they were trying to get me to come close to the door so that they could help me get out. And I heard them say to the holdup man: “Take the money that’s there, and let her come out. We know that Siomara doesn’t have any part in this.”
I did not know that my parents were outside, along with some of my fellow Christian associates. They had helped make clear that I had no connection with the holdup man.
Then there came a new demand from my captor: “I want a radio-patrol car with only an unarmed driver to take me where I want, and when we’re in a safe place, I’ll let her go. If you try to shoot me, she and I will be blown to bits.” But I insisted: “Get that out of your head. You think only of dying. But our bodies belong to Jehovah.”
Finally Freed
About four o’clock in the morning, I began to feel ill. More than 16 hours had gone by since I had entered the bank. I had not slept, nor had I eaten anything, and the sound of the voice through the megaphone was making both of us nervous.
At dawn a woman who turned out to be a doctor spoke to me. She said that each moment that passed would be worse for me. My captor told me: “Please hold on a little longer.” Then he agreed that someone could come in and take care of me. But the ones outside with that responsibility were afraid and would not agree to come in.
About a quarter to eight, I felt a chill throughout my body. Then I felt dizzy and fell to the floor, unconscious. When I came to, I was outside the bank! A police officer helped me get up, and with the help of two more, I ran to the patrol car and was taken to a hospital. Again I fainted while getting out of the car, and I did not regain consciousness until I received medical attention. Then I was told: “You are safe now. Everything came out all right. Rest.” My thoughts went to Jehovah God. I gave him thanks for helping me to endure this ordeal.
Later, my parents told me how I got out of the bank. The holdup man had taken me outside, trying to revive me. But for an instant, he let go of me and turned around to look toward the bank. It was at that moment that the police overpowered him, and I was rescued. The police did not know what impelled my captor to let go of me and look toward the bank when he knew that no one was there.
After four days in the hospital, I was released, and I returned home. I was deeply moved by the demonstration of love by my Christian brothers and sisters. About 60 of them met together in my home. What joy I felt knowing that my family and I were not alone! I could reflect on my goal in life, which is to serve God, and the trueness of the words: “I inquired of Jehovah, and he answered me, and out of all my frights he delivered me.” (Psalm 34:4)—As told by Siomara Velásquez López.
[Picture on page 18]
Siomara Velásquez López