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 the name of life". This is how the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, referred to the joint effort carried out by army units and Amerindian guides in pursuit of locating the four underage brothers lost for 40 days in the jungle after the plane in which they were traveling crashed. and that they were happily and miraculously rescued last Friday.
However, that collaboration did not occur from the beginning of the search. During the first 20 days, military special operations teams and members of the so-called indigenous guards went their separate ways.
Apparently, it was President Petro who wanted to put an end to this situation and became directly involved in the matter. "In a first meeting, eight days after the search began, the president told us that we had to leave together because the army was not going to be able to do it alone," Luis Acosta, national head of the organization's indigenous guards, told Afp. National Indigenous of Colombia (ONIC).
The Colombian government has insistently praised the cooperation of indigenous commandos and volunteers on the ground, in a country where decades of internal conflict and violence have left rather mistrust 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 it," said Colombian Defense Minister Iván Velásquez. "They were the guides of our commandos in the jungle," he stressed.
The indigenous guards give special importance to what they call "spiritual force" which during the search work they wanted to stimulate with various rites in which they used mambé (powder made from coca leaves and ash) and chirrinchi, a fermented drink. It is in order to maintain this “spiritual force” that Acosta has promised that an indigenous guard will stand guard at the Bogotá hospital where children are recovering from their odyssey in the Guaviare jungle. “We will accompany you spiritually,” he said.
In addition to this intangible support, the four siblings, Lesly, thirteen; Soleiny, nine; Tien Noriel, five; and Cristin, one year old, are receiving medical care that will last at least a couple or three weeks.
While they recover, they have been receiving various visits. In addition to those of his family (his grandfather called them "sons of the mountain" in reference to their indigenous origin, an aspect that he considers key to their survival) members of the Administration and the army have passed through.
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 father was also traveling. wife and mother of children.
"Don Manuel, the father of the children, told me: General, I want you to be the godfather of my daughter, the little one," General Pedro Sánchez told a local television channel. "For me it is an honor," the officer commented to the camera, visibly moved, with his right hand over his heart.
