i am looking for the title of a movie or tv movie made within the last
5 years about a man who was kidnapped in someplace like Bogata
Columbia ( but may have been somewhere else) and he was held for
ransom while his wife worked with an independent agent to negotiate
his return.  they tension between the wife and agent was tense at
times.

Hi.

Your movie sounds like "Proof of Life," starring Meg Ryan as the wife,
David Morse as the kidnapped husband, and Russell Crowe as the
negotiator.

Released in 2001, the movie is widely available on VHS and DVD,
including at Barnesnoble.com. Here's an excerpt from an "All Movie
Guide" review on Barnes and Noble's web site:

"Peter Bowman (David Morse) and his wife Alice (Meg Ryan) have
relocated to a small Latin American nation called Tecala; Peter works
for an American engineering and construction firm, and his latest
assignment has him building a dam that is intended to bring power to
the developing nation. The ELT is a radical Marxist faction gearing up
for political revolution in Tecala that has turned to kidnapping as a
way to raise capital, and Peter is chosen as its next target. When
Peter is ambushed on his way to work, his firm brings in Terry Thorn
(Russell Crowe), a former Australian intelligence operative who now
works as a private "kidnapping and ransom" negotiator."
http://video.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?ean=85391905226

Search strategy: kidnapped husband wife "south america"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=kidnapped+husband+wife+%22south+america%22&btnG=Google+Search

I hope this helps.

exactly roght-  thank you

I think the movie was actually released in 2000, with a review dating
12 October 2000 at:
Proof of Life (2000)
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0228750

And the title comes from the request made by the wife and agent for the
kidnappers to provide proof that her husband is alive.     First they need to know
that he is alive, *then* they'll negotiate for his release.   

This movie has been playing on, I think HBO, within the last couple months
and will be on HBO2 in the next couple weeks.  

    ian