Strictly speaking, Pedro Sánchez is not Rambo. He does not respond to the Prototype Special Forces General. He is of medium height, of stocky build, and has a face marked by youthful acne. He goes to the toilet crying, thinks of his dead parents and comes back with red eyes. On the shelf in his office is a book entitled Introduction to Socialist Thinking. His subordinates, constantly coming and going, take his orders calmly and discreetly. He listened to flamenco pop while he was leading the search for the children lost in the jungle. At the suggestion of the indigenous people who also took part in the outreach, he distributed brandy in the Amazon region so that the mother jungle could bring the four brothers back. Finally, Lesly, Soleiny, Tien and Cristin were found after wandering aimlessly through the jungle for 40 days. In this interview, which took place in the military barracks in the northern canton of Bogotá, Sánchez explains how they were able to survive in an environment full of life but also danger.
Questions. When were you assigned the child case?
Answer. We planned more special operations here in Bogotá. The day the plane crashed [el 1 de mayo] I hoped that the residents were still alive and that they would surely find them. With beacons, etc., it’s easy to find them. But when four days went by and they weren’t found, I thought, “They’re going to ask us.” And I wasn’t assigned the mission because I was the right person, but because of the unit that I command. The General Commander of the Armed Forces, General Giraldo, asked me.
Q Who in turn called him the President…
R I have no idea.
Q You had to go to the command post in San José del Guaviare, near the jungle.
Newsletter
Analysis of current affairs and the best stories from Colombia, every week in your mailbox
GET THIS
R The President was certainly concerned because there were indigenous people and four minors on the plane. When I spoke to the commander of the Air Force, he asked me if I could help him. I told him that this was very difficult, but that the capacity was there. It is not our own mission, although it is within the framework of humanitarian aid doctrine. They are the finest men, trained and equipped for battle, they are the elite. Whatever needs to be done, we’ll do it. At night General Giraldo said to me: “Brother, do that over there.” The next day we hired a battalion, it was May 5th. I was in the middle of an operation in Medellín, but we canceled it. We’re sending them to San Jose. And the next day we introduced them to the jungle. The point was not only to search for the plane, but also to analyze what the threat is there. The terrain and methodology are simple, the problem is the narco-criminal groups.
Q A bilateral ceasefire was reached with the FARC dissidents’ central general staff…
R Yes, but my men understand that if they see a threat, they must act. The doubt is her death.
Pedro Sanchez on June 16, 2023. Diego Cuevas
Q How do you explain that the children turned up just five kilometers from the plane?
R That after maybe 24 kilometers of walking they were finally no longer so oriented. It’s hard to find your way there. You have just returned to the website.
Q How do you know they ran 15 miles?
R Based on the evidence we found.
[ Sánchez enseña un mapa que muestra el supuesto recorrido que hicieron los niños, donde se muestra que llegaron hasta un punto y después deshicieron el camino ].
Q Did you discuss this with the children?
R No, it is what we deduce from it. We haven’t spoken to them. The children’s information is missing to complete the story.
Q What role did Lesly, the eldest, play in keeping the siblings alive?
R It was about authority and leadership. What he did was crucial. First, because he retained the desire to live. Second, because it was very creative.
Q For example?
R You have to wait and see the whole story. What I say are assumptions, conclusions. For example, he forgot about scissors, but he used his teeth to cut the branches and build shelters. For covering and laying a floor. He ran out of food. She chewed fruit, poured it into whatever bottle or water bottle she had, and gave it to the baby. He set up the shelters and retrieved items from the plane to survive.
Q As such?
R Farina [una especie de harina gruesa derivada de la yuca], clothes, the awning… the first aid kit emptied it. I changed the baby’s diaper.
Q Where did he get them?
R They took her on board the plane. We found at least three in different locations.
Q What do you think of the theory that they kept quiet out of fear when you walked by?
R All I can tell you is that we got within 40 meters of them once, maybe the same day or a day before or after. And that they listened to us. Both the soldiers and the natives. And that Lesly heard the helicopter and the loudspeakers. But I don’t know why just finding it didn’t help us. She knows that. In the jungle, more than 20 meters away, you get lost.
Q You personally went into the jungle.
R I went there for three reasons. First, to make sure the mission was accomplished. Second, to boost our men’s morale and tell them that we would definitely complete the mission. And third, to have a good conscience, because if we find them dead, at least tell them we were there looking for them.
Pedro Sánchez greets the indigenous people of the Murui, Siona and Coreguaje ethnic groups as they joined the search groups in San José del Guaviare May 21, 2023. Mauricio Duenas Castaneda (EFE)
Q How many times have you been down?
R Only once, two days before I found her. I arrived on a Wednesday 7th June. The natives suggested I ask the jungle for permission. I have built trust in them. I got there and the first thing we did was pray. I asked her permission, “Oh, Mother Jungle, allow these humble mortals to find these children and we will bring them home soon.” Later I walked, slept there, saw how complex things are , and got to know the natives. I looked at her with desire, but at the same time with powerlessness. My men had been there for 30 days and I ordered another battalion to relieve them.
Q He offered whiskey and brandy to the jungle.
R I ordered whiskey but later the natives told me it was no longer needed, that it wasn’t necessary.
Q Because?
R Because the leprechaun accepted the brandy. Many theories are woven into all of this. All I can tell you is that he had to reconcile military science with aboriginal beliefs. And in that balance, you need to give them confidence and tell them that what they are saying is valuable and important. Are you Catholic?
Q NO.
R Well, for them, for example, the Virgin of Fatima will be an imp. Who is right? I don’t know. O Buddha. All I know is that I have to respect them, and if they came to help, it’s only because it was important.
Q How did you find out the children were found?
R General Cota, the commander of the special forces mission, conducted the operation there. They reported it and he told me, “Wonder, miracle, miracle, they found them.” I asked how they were and they told me they were alive.
Q Miracle said three times is the code to report they were alive.
R It was a miracle once, but it was said three times. Repeat it three times to confirm. Like Mayday, Mayday, Mayday.
Q Speaking of which: How did the plane crash go, in which the four children survived, but the three adults who were traveling with them died, including their mother?
R He had an engine failure. The pilot reported in an emergency. He tried to jump into a tree but hit his nose against one of the trees and the engine died. The plane crashed with no engine but head-on.
Q How do you explain that the four children escaped unharmed?
R With a miracle. The farther they were from the nose, the more likely they were to survive.
Q I think they were behind.
R That’s confirmed, they were in the back.
Q Have you spoken to the children?
R I just asked Lesly if she heard Grandma’s voice from the helicopters and she said yes. I didn’t want to ask anything else. The important thing is that they are alive, you will find out the rest later.
Q How did you manage to withstand all the attention this story drew around the world?
R Make it clear why I’m here. I’m here to conduct special operations and command this unit. That obviously 90% of the energy has gone into servicing this piece of media which is extremely important to what the country represents, but I can’t separate myself from the others. For now, I’ll be discussing two special operations.
Pedro Sánchez in his office in the northern canton of Bogotá. Diego Cuevas
Q How did your everyday life usually look like?
R I got up at five in the morning thinking that that day we would find the children. I made reports, they updated me at 8am on the progress of the operation and I was always thinking what other ideas I could think of to find them. At night my son asked me if we found them, I couldn’t say yes, it was frustrating. But I thought we would find her the next day.
Q They were in Bogotá and went to San José because the search seemed to have stalled.
R When we didn’t find anything, I went there to see what was going on. I focused more on the operational and tactical issues and decision making. And to send messages because I felt silence was the noise of the critics. Everything had to be disclosed. How were the troops, the logistics, the secret service, the food? And when we started finding evidence, that was it. When there were more mediums, they had to organize everything and act as a screen for the operation so that nothing fell on the troops. That I assumed to protect all of that. When the natives arrived, we had to coordinate with them. It was a demanding, arduous task.
Q What was the most difficult day?
R May 18th. That day they reported to me that they had found a new footprint that was between 24 and 48 hours old. We had found between 15 and 18 more tracks and I felt like we were close. We immediately moved more helicopters, more planes and satellite imagery. So to speak, all capacities. I said: “This is the night”. We deployed the troops, I told them they couldn’t sleep, they had to go on for 24 hours. And the reason for that was because it was the most important 24 hours, the golden 24 hours, where we would find our minors. We carry megaphones with grandma’s voice, we try everything. But we didn’t find anything. And I asked myself, “What happened here?” So I said that I would ask the Jungle Mother to give her back to us and that I hoped that she would listen to us.
Q The 36th day of the search was also hard for you.
R Yes Monday 5th June I went to the canton band in Bogotá. And I started praying and trying to find signs. I haven’t found anything, not even in the Bible. “Give me a sign, my God” and nothing. It simply meant that our Lord was telling us, have faith, get to work, don’t wait, seek, seek. That’s when I decided to go to the jungle.
Q How is?
R Beautiful but hostile. Very tall trees, very dense vegetation with dangerous animals such as tigers, jaguars, poisonous snakes, poisonous plants, mosquitoes that transmit diseases that can be fatal. Sometimes the sun cannot be seen, it is not enough to arrive. Sometimes it rains 16 hours a day. A place that can swallow you up perfectly if you’re not careful.
Q How many days longer do you think the children could have survived in the conditions they were in?
R 5-year-old boy Tien is here for about three more days. I was very weak. The baby, maybe a week.
Q And Lesly and Soleiny?
R They were exhausted, but they persevered. It was important for them to endure being eaten, they were chubby.
Q Is this the quest for more days in Colombia’s history?
R No, there was another one looking for a dead man. A prosecutor who fell from a helicopter during a military operation.
Q And did it take you longer to find the prosecutor’s body?
R We never found it. It was 2014. But it was the first time that the best men trained for combat were deployed. Equipped with satellite abilities, planes, everything to find survivors. The indigenous people would not have gotten there on their own, they would not have been able to feed themselves all the time. The work of both was necessary.
Q How did you personally experience all of this?
R As General, we have accomplished the mission. That has had a huge impact on me as a person. When I thought of children, I saw my son. When I thought about parents, I saw my wife. And that created a very strong connection. He did it out of conviction. And I think that every day we save lives, even in combat. We protect the weakest. Our men are dying, I don’t know if you’ve seen the photo gallery below …
Q Yes.
R It is good news for the country so that we can unite more and move forward.
Subscribe here to the EL PAÍS newsletter on Colombia and receive all the latest information about the country.