Washington Nationals catcher Kinapped, and found safe

Valencia, Venezuela - The Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos hailed the security forces from Venezuela who rescued him from kidnappers in a hail of bullets and admitted he feared he would be killed.

Now i'm fine, thank God for the work of these heroes with me" Ramos told the Telesur network upon arrival in Valencia, the city in Venezuela's Carabobo state where his family resides.

The 24 year old catcher, snatched by gunmen outside his parents home on Wednesday, said chaos reigned at the moment security forces raided the remote mountain hideout where he was being kept.

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"I remember hearing a lot of gun shots outside" Ramos said.

With his father Abraham at his side, Ramos said to the reporter that his captivity was pretty tough adding, "I feared for my life, and worried that i might never see again my family".

Ramos has been training wit the Aragua Tigres. the Venezuelan team for wich he plays during the Major League Baseball Off Season, said he believed his kidnappers were from Colombia.

"I don't know who they are but i'm pretty sure they were Colombians because of their accent" Ramos said of the Kidnappers.

Phisically it was not bad, but psychologically it affected me a lot, hearing them carrying on while i was suffering he said.

"I want to stay here so that the Venavezuelan people can see me play here, wich is what they want" Ramos said.

Many people in baseball-mad Venezuela breathed a sigh of relief when officials announced Friday that Ramos had been rescued safe and sound.

The Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who on Friday approved the operation to rescue Ramos, on Saturday congratulated all those involved.

"I am speechless," his mother Maria Magdalena Campos told state-run VTV television. "Thank you! Thank you for everything!"

Kidnapping is not unusual in Venezuela, and many cases are resolved within hours or days after payment of a ransom.

Wilson Abraham Ramos (born August 10, 1987) is a Major League Baseball catcher for the Washington Nationals. He is 6' tall, weighs 221 lbs., and throws and bats right-handed. He signed with the Minnesota Twins as a non-drafted free agent on July 7, 2004.

Ramos said he was happy and thankful to be alive, and that the final moments had been hair-raising as police and the kidnappers exchanged heavy fire in the remote mountainous area where he was being held.