"CALI, COLOMBIA -- In less than twenty years, the name of this city has taken on a legendary status all its own. It conjures images from the television program Miami Vice, and a plethora of movies...

"Most of these images have to do with the false glamour of drug-trafficking.

"Or we think of news reports from a decade ago about a city where kingpins defied nations, most especially the national government and judiciary of Colombia itself. The new "mafia" brazenly held gun battles with police officials, kidnapped and murdered judges, protected by private armies...

Seldom, though, have we had reports from on the ground. Few of us have seen or read the accounts of everyday people like ourselves, going about their daily lives, and the effect(s) this environment has had upon their lives...."

".....In this three part series, Hargrove shares his experience as a captive of narco-guerillas in Colombia. The series will be featured in these pages over the next three days. --- Ed."

We did not know at the time, nor did Mr. Hargrove, that his continuing involvement with the families of other kidnapped foreign nationals would lead to his being called to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives International Relations Committee on this growing problem.

Thomas Hargrove will appear before the Committee on Tuesday, 31 March, 1998. His testimony is scheduled for approximately 3:30 p.m.(EDT) and, at this writing, it is our belief that it will be broadcast on the CSPAN cable channel. We encourage you to watch, should your cable operator carry CSPAN.

As part of our continued support of Mr. Hargrove's efforts, G21 WORLD WIDE has been given an advance transcript of Mr. Hargrove's written testimony before Congress, which we are proud to offer our readers tonight.