conduct the negotiation right, their patience becomes a
formidable weapon.
A few weeks after the Haitian kidnapping boom began, we
started to notice two patterns. First, Mondays seemed to be
especially busy, as if the kidnappers had a particularly
strong work ethic and wanted to get a jump on the week.
And, second, the thugs grew increasingly eager to get paid
as the weekend approached.
At first, this didn’t make any sense. But by listening
closely to the kidnappers and debriefing the hostages we
rescued, we discovered something that should have been
obvious: These crimes weren’t politically motivated at all.
Instead, these guys were garden-variety thugs who wanted
to get paid by Friday so they could party through the
weekend.
Once we understood the pattern and knew the
kidnappers’ self-imposed deadline, we had two key pieces
of information that totally shifted the leverage to our side.
First, if we let the pressure build by stalling the
negotiations until Thursday or Friday, we could cut the best
deal. And, second, because you didn’t need anything close
to $150,000 to have a good weekend in Haiti, offering a lot,
lot less would suffice.
How close we were getting to their self-imposed
deadline would be indicated by how specific the threats
were that they issued. “Give us the money or your aunt is
going to die” is an early stage threat, as the time isn’t
specified. Increasing specificity on threats in any type of