Service Door

Caracas, Monday, August 26, 1963, 9 pm. In the lobby of the Hotel Miramonte, in San Bernardino, a ceiling fan turns over empty armchairs. Club Cibeles of Madrid is staying here, playing in the Caracas International Club Tournament.

At 6:03 am on Saturday, centre-forwardcentre-forward Football player who plays in the middle of the attack and is mainly responsible for scoring goals. Ulises Barcala, 37, walked across this lobby between two men who claimed to be policemen and got into a black car. At 1 pm, the Tamanaco Command, a guerrilla cell, claimed the kidnapping by phone to the newspapers. It demanded no ransom.

Today, at 2:45 pm, Barcala was released unharmed on an avenue and took a taxi to the Spanish embassy, where he is giving his statement tonight. But the fake policemen asked for his room by number, and that number was not written anywhere in the hotel.

Someone on the inside opened the way. Three people crossed the path to that room between Friday night and the early hours of Saturday.

Lobby of a Caracas hotel in 1963 at night, with a dark wood desk and a key board.