Main content

Students by day and hostage negotiators by night

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)

Available now

41 minutes

Broadcasts

  • Wed 16 Aug 2023 11:06GMT
  • Wed 16 Aug 2023 17:06GMT
  • Wed 16 Aug 2023 21:06GMT
  • Thu 17 Aug 2023 02:06GMT

Contact Outlook

Contact Outlook

Info on how we might use your contribution on air

Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary

Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary

Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected