Honduran journalist's son freed after payment of ransom

Tegucigalpa, Feb 5 (EFE).- The adolescent son of Honduran broadcast journalist Eduardo Maldonado was released Friday after his family paid a ransom to the kidnappers who grabbed him 27 days ago, the National Police said.

"Young Luis Jose Maldonado has been returned safe and sound to the bosom of his family," police spokesman Leonel Sauceda told HRN radio.

The elder Maldonado took to the airwaves earlier Friday to say that the ransom had been paid and to call on the captors to release his son.

Unidentified gunmen snatched Luis Jose Maldonado, 16, from the family's house in Tegucigalpa on Jan. 9.

At least four armed men drove up to the house in an SUV, "burst inside and pointed weapons" at the journalist, other members of his family and servants, leaving them tied them up, police said at the time of the abduction.

Maldonado, who is close to ousted President Mel Zelaya, has hosted the news and commentary show "Hable como habla," which is broadcast on Radio Globo and Channel 12 television, for several years.

The journalist was a candidate in the ruling Liberal Party's 2008 presidential primary, losing to Elvin Santos, who ultimately lost the Nov. 29 election to opposition National Party candidate Porfirio Lobo, inaugurated last week.