Word: ransoms
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Privately, high Administration officials explained that Ford simply felt that he had to seek the military aid or else see the safety of the Americans imperiled. They were, in effect, hostages in South Viet Nam, and the aid money was meant as ransom to get them out. The requested funds were not to be ransom to the government of President Thieu but a stimulant to the confidence of the South Vietnamese that they might still hold out. As these Washington officials depicted it, if Ford had made his speech without asking for the $722 million in arms, Saigon...
...merely "the 27th," the Sandinistas broke into a diplomatic reception in Managua and took hostage eleven of Somoza's inner circle, leaving the dictator no choice but to comply with their demands, which were; freedom and guaranteed flight to Cuba for 15 imprisoned guerillas, $5 million in ransom, and perhaps most important, the publication and broadcast in all the newspapers, and the government-controlled radio and television for the reason for the raid. Somoza immediately declared a state of siege and placed the country under martial law, and the country has been abuzz ever since...
...What ransom did the U.S. pay Cuba for the prisoners taken at the Bay of Pigs...
...France, where museum security is tighter than Italy's, most of the recent thefts have been from private collections; the preferred targets are tapestries and minor (hence easily negotiable) "blue chip" Ecole de Paris pictures: Rouault, Modigliani, Vuillard, Bonnard, Cezanne and the like. Major art thefts, whether for ransom or resale, have declined in England over the past few years, thanks to the formation of Scotland Yard's highly efficient art squad in 1968. "It simply does not pay criminals to steal works of art in this country," says London Art Dealer Hugh Leggatt. "The police in Britain...
...Siviero is inclined to discount the concrete-bunker theory-the mad millionaire gloating over stolen masterpieces in solitude. The collector, he believes, "wants to be able to enjoy the possession and to show it off." That leaves the extortion hypothesis: the work of art taken either to get a ransom or some political favor. In fact, however, the few ransom demands that have been made have turned out to be phony. Even if they were real, they would not work, Siviero claims. "If a child is snatched, the family will do anything to get it back. But there...