The “meeting of indigenous and military knowledge” in favor of a “common good”, combined with “respect for the jungle”, shows “a different path towards a new Colombia”, a “true path towards peace in name of life”. This is how the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, referred to the joint effort made by army units and Amerindian guides to locate the four underage brothers lost for 40 days in the jungle after crashing the ‘small plane in which they were traveling and which were happily and miraculously rescued on Friday.
However, this collaboration was not done from the beginning of the research. During the first 20 days, military special operations teams and members of the so-called indigenous guards each went by their side.
Apparently, it was President Petro who wanted to put an end to this situation and became directly involved in the affair. “In a first meeting, after eight days of having started the search, the president told us that we had to go out together because the army could not do it all alone,” Luis Acosta, national head of the indigenous guards of the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC).
The Colombian Government has persistently praised the cooperation on the ground of the commandos and the indigenous volunteers, in a country where decades of internal conflict and violence have rather left distrust between these two actors. “Without the indigenous people, their experience and their knowledge of the jungle, this unexpected result could not have been achieved, all the soldiers recognize that”, emphasized the Colombian Minister of Defense, Iván Velásquez. “They were the guides of our commandos in the jungle”, he remarked.
The indigenous guards give special importance to what they call “spiritual strength”, which during the research work they wanted to stimulate with various rites, in which they used mambé (powder made with coca leaves and ash) and chirrinchi, a fermented drink .
In order to maintain this “spiritual strength”, Acosta has promised that an indigenous guard will set up permanent guard at the hospital in Bogota where the children are recovering from the odyssey in the jungle of Guaviare. “We will accompany them spiritually”, he said.
In addition to this immaterial support, the four siblings, Lesly, aged thirteen; the Soleiny, again; Tien Noriel, five; and Cristin, from one, receive medical care, which will last at least two or three weeks.
In addition to those of his family – his grandfather called them “sons of the mountain” with reference to their indigenous origin, an aspect he considers key to their survival -, members of the Administration and the army
Precisely the Colombian general who led the search operations for the four children will become the godfather of the youngest of the brothers at the express wish of the children’s father, who was widowed as a result of the plane crash, in which his wife and mother of the children was also traveling.
“Don Manuel, the children’s father, told me: ‘General, I want you to be the godfather of my daughter, the little one,'” explained General Pedro Sánchez on a local television channel. “It’s an honor for me,” the officer commented to the camera, visibly moved, with his right hand on his heart.
