The four brothers who had been missing for 40 days in the Colombian jungle have been found alive, as confirmed by President Gustavo Petro. The children are in good health despite the dangers they faced in that lush Amazon jungle full of jaguars and venomous snakes. The thing that struck the most was the survival of the child in extreme conditions, who turned one while the authorities were looking for them.
“A joy for the whole country. The four children who were lost 40 days ago in the Colombian jungle seemed alive,” tweeted the recently arrived president from Havana, where he has just signed a ceasefire with the ELN. He attached a photograph that served as proof of the life of the brothers. In another image that is going around the world, the boys appear surrounded by the soldiers who found them and wrapped in thermal blankets. One of the soldiers carries the child in his arms.
The children are named Lesly Jacobo Bonbaire (13 years old), Solecni Ranoque Mucutuy (9 years old), Tien Noriel Ronoque Mucutuy (4 years old) and Cristian Neryman Ranoque Mucutuy (1 year old). On May 1, the plane they were traveling with three adults, including their mother, crashed into the void in the middle of the Amazon jungle, on the Apaporis river. The pilot alerted the control tower of an engine failure before abruptly losing altitude, at which time he attempted to exit the river, but he ran out of time and crashed into some trees.
Nothing more was heard of the occupants until the 17th, when some indigenous trackers found the plane destroyed. Inside the bodies of the three adults, but no trace of the children. Objects and clothing found nearby gave authorities hope that the children were alive. Since that day, Petro has given the order for a large military device, in collaboration with the indigenous communities, to find the children by any means possible.
“Today we lived a magical day, full of joy. We are getting closer to peace, in the advancing agreement with the ELN,” Petro said. “And now I come back and the first news is that indeed the indigenous communities who were looking for and the military forces together found the children 40 days later. They were alone. They themselves have made an example of total survival. It will go down in history, so those children are today the children of peace and the children of Colombia”.
The children are currently receiving medical care in San José del Guaviare, the closest town. Then they will be transferred to Bogotá or Villavicencio, depending on what the doctors decide. The president will try to talk to them tomorrow. “My daughter is turning 15, so she is a good gift for my daughter and a good gift for Colombia,” he said.
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