HOW DID THE YOUNG MIRACLES OF THE AMAZONIAN JUNGLE SURVIVE ?

"Miracle operation" was the code name the Colombian army had given to the quest for the children. The emotion was deep, the questions numerous: how is it possible that these children, aged 13 to 11 months, were able to survive in this difficult environment?

Some of the Indian guides gave their own, to this day the most accepted by Colombians: spirits of the forest took care of the children. It was necessary to perform a certain number of rites (prayers, but also to bring offerings to the spirits, for example bottles of alcohol, so that these spirits would return the children when the time came).

Politically, moreover, the power could show as a national triumph the alliance between the soldiers of the army and the Indians of the “guardia indígena”, recently called into question by the right following clashes with the army.

An ordeal of more than a month in one of the most hostile areas of the world.

Since their "miraculous" discovery on June 9, we know a little more about their survival. The Colombian press has begun to give details of their ordeal of more than a month in one of the most hostile areas of the world. Where tarantulas, scorpions, but also jaguars, pumas, ocelots or – they are rarer – anacondas live... That none of them was the prey of one of these animals of the miracle.

The children were able to use on their journey a mosquito net, a towel, a minimum of camping equipment, two mobile phones (with rapidly depleted batteries), a flashlight and a small music Box.

The children also revealed that their mother survived the plane crash for four days before succumbing to her injuries.

At first, they stayed near the wreckage, feeding on cassava flour they found on board the aircraft, said General Pedro Sanchez, head of search operations. Then, "they ran out of supplies" and decided to look for a way out of the jungle, reported Henry Guerrero, one of the natives who took part in the search with the army. Before walking away from the aircraft, the children collected a towel, a flashlight, two cell phones (with rapidly draining batteries), a music box and some clothes.

Then, during their stay in the Amazon, they fed on “chontaduro [orange fruits] and wild mangoes […] fruits of the jungle”, according to General Sanchez, who called their survival a “miracle”. Luis Acosta, head of the indigenous guards of the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC), added that the children had “fed on roots, seeds and plants that they had identified and that they knew were edible”.

The siblings also belong to the Uitoto ethnic group, originally from the Amazon. “They are indigenous children who know the forest very well. They know what to eat and what not to eat. They managed to survive thanks to this and their spiritual strength,” said Luis Acosta. The natives were behind the discovery of the children, the two youngest of whom celebrated their birthdays while wandering.

The Leading Big Sister

During these days spent in the jungle, the children "stayed near a stream. They were filling a small bottle of soda with water", detailed Henri Guerrero, one of the members of the team. safety. “Nothing ever happened to them”, not a single animal attack or accidental injury, “They got away with it very well”.

He also explained that the young survivors had built a makeshift shelter using a tarp, and that they “had a small towel there, on the ground”. “I spoke with the eldest only, continued Henri Guerrero. She told me that she listened to all the messages from the helicopters, saying that we were looking for them, the message from the grandmother who said not to move or not to be afraid of the dog Wilson looking for them. They listened to the messages but did not know where to go in this very large, very difficult area.

One can imagine the distress, coupled with the maturity of Lesly, who, according to her grandmother's friend, "had the reflex to snatch the baby from her mother's arms, to search among the debris for the suitcase where diapers for her one-year-old sister".

As for her ability to take care of, so young a baby, it is because Lesly, pubescent at 13, was trained by her mother in her potential future role as a mother. “This community makes babies early but in large numbers because the parents know they will lose them. They are exposed to so many dangers: guerrillas, wild animals…”, says Adriana.

The Colombian Ministry of Defense, Ivan Velasquez Gomez, also paid special tribute to Lesly, the eldest of the siblings: "We must recognize not only her courage, but also her talent as a leader. It is thanks to her that the three little ones were able to survive".

The children's grandfather had said he was convinced during the search that his granddaughter had managed to get her siblings to safety. "She's very smart, she's very active, she's strong," he said, adding that the three older ones were "very strong to walk" in the jungle.

“I'm hungry” “My mom is dead.”

The team of natives who found the children in the jungle then recounted this extraordinary moment.

"The eldest daughter, Lesly, holding the little one by the hand, ran towards me. I took her in my arms, she said to me: "I'm hungry", told Nicolas Ordoñez Gomes, the one of the team members. I asked where the boy was. He was lying next to it.

fter a first hug, and giving him some food, he got up and said to me, very aware of what he was saying:

“My mom is dead”.

“We immediately followed up with reassuring words, saying that we were friends, that we came from the family, from the father, from the uncle. That we were from the family! He replied: “ I want fariña and chorizo” [du pain et de la sausage, ndlr]”, detailed Nicolas Ordoñez Gomes.

Three days after the rescue, the children continued to rest out of sight and media excitement in a room at Bogotá's military hospital, where they were airlifted the very evening of their rescue.

"A setting of extreme violence", according to sociologist Olga L. Gonzalez

Manuel Ranoque's family lived in the department of Caqueta, one of the historic departments where the Farc guerrillas were established. For at least forty years, the guerrillas have deployed there. But who says guerrilla also says drug trafficking (the largest cultivated areas of coca), paramilitarism

Since the peace agreement with the Farc in 2017, the territory has been dominated by Farc dissidents (i.e. former guerrillas who have refused to lay down their arms), paramilitaries, various groups fighting for control over local resources: coca, but also gold. All along the Caqueta River, clandestine gold miners poison the waters with mercury. These armed groups control access to the river, impose their rules by terror.

It was therefore in a setting of extreme violence, and not in a paradise of communion with nature, that this family lived. In fact, the head of the family, Manuel Ranoque, had to leave his home overnight.

He was the "gobernador" of his community of Puerto Sábalo, that is to say the local chief. Threats from Farc dissidents had summoned him to leave the premises.

Now settled in another city, the father of the miraculous children Manuel Ranoque has gathered a sum of money to bring his family back to him. He had the hope of settling in Villavicencio or Bogota to permanently flee the threats. Following his appeal, his wife and four children left the community. Their journey began with several days of navigation, to reach a small airport in the middle of the forest (the inhabitants of these regions, not served by roads or rivers can only take the plane).

The only means of transport is the private plane

The small plane had taken off on May 1 from Araracuara. It was a U206 G Cessna aircraft, at least forty years old piloted by a 55-year-old man. this plane had been cobbled together outside of official protocols. The inhabitants of these regions of the forest are forced to take private flights that escape the regulation of the authorities, and air accidents are not uncommon.

On May 1, 2023, the aircraft again presented an engine problem. This time, the pilot Hernando Murcia could not make an emergency landing on a river and crashed in the forest. He died instantly, along with Indian leader Herman Mendoza, in the cabin with him. The 33-year-old mother reportedly survived, but was injured and unable to get out of the plane and died after four days.

Stepfather abuse ?

The 13-year-old girl had taken to fleeing into the forest for several days to escape the reprimands and violence of this stepfather.

Her grandparents, who constantly claim custody of her children, confide that she would have stayed there for up to three days, that she knew how to make herself a hut with palm fronds, knew how to identify the good ones and the bad ones. seeds, because his mother had introduced him to the resources of the forest.

The father accuses his in-laws of spreading lies about him, reiterates his accusations against Farc dissidence and reprimands the president for showing images of his children without his consent.

Moreover, the lack of food, the forced fast would not be something completely foreign to this community. The available data show that hunger is very present among the peoples of the Colombian Amazon: thus, children under the age of four are smaller and lighter than children in all other Colombian regions.

Three days after their rescue, at the same time as it underlined the "satisfactory recovery process" of the young survivors, the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF) announced on Monday June 12 that it had launched an administrative procedure on the restitution to children to their families. According to Adriana Velásquez, deputy director of the ICBF, work is already underway to organize the first meeting. With a mission on the agenda:

The opening of an investigation into allegations of abuse against Manuel Miller Ranoque, the father of the two youngest children.