Reported kidnappings have increased nearly eight-fold in the decade since Chavez was elected -- from 50 in 1998 to 385 last year. But the actual number is estimated to be much higher ... authorities say criminals are emboldened by the fact that only about 10% of the crimes get reported and families say they're afraid to call police, who may be corrupt and involved in the crime.

Oscar Pineda drove from western Barinas state to Caracas, stopping in five state capitals to march across each city. Upon his arrival in Caracas, Pineda urged the Organization of American States (OAS) to pressure Venezuela to do more.

Pineda's wife and five others accompanied him on the 326-mile (525 kilometer) journey. Pineda's 36-year-old nephew moved to Florida after a kidnapping attempt in Barinas two years ago. The nephew escaped in his car amid a hail of bullets. A second nephew in Caracas was the victim of an "express kidnapping" -- in which abductors force victims to repeatedly withdraw cash from their bank accounts before setting them free. "It's horrible," Pineda said. "It's something that has destroyed my family."

• Pineda met with prosecutors and lawmakers whom he said promised to address the issue in Barinas by assigning specialized police to fight kidnappings.

Rampant crime is a top concern among Venezuelans. Mexico is the only country in Latin America with more kidnappings, according to Clayton Consultants, a crisis-management firm based in Herndon, Virginia. Lack of trust in law enforcement is another problem.

In a May survey by pollster Alfredo Keller in Caracas, a majority of respondents said they had little or no confidence in the nation's security forces. The poll of 1,200 voters had a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points. "The issue of police responsibility is very serious," Keller said. "It has strongly affected the credibility of the government."

• Official figures show that about 180 kidnappings have been reported so far this year, including about 48 of the "express" variety, Monroy said.

Other groups dispute those figures. The National Federation of Cattle Ranchers has recorded 224 abductions in Venezuela as of July 22 -- mostly in states along the western border with Colombia, where the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia,