The soldier who led the rescue of children lost in the jungle: “Without the natives, we would still be looking for four brothers”

A month and a half ago, almost no Colombian would have been able to identify General Pedro Sanchez Suarez. Now, however, he is the most visible face of the “jungle miracle”, as the person responsible for Operation Esperanza, which managed to save four lost children from the jungle 40 days after the plane crash in which their mother was. died. “Everything is possible when you want. Starting with a will, for a laudable cause, is easier, and on this occasion it was about saving four children,” 52-year-old Sánchez tells La Voz in a break from his daily duties.

The general is the commander of the military’s Joint Special Operations Command, a group specialized in conducting large-scale operations and locating and neutralizing high-value targets, such as the capture of 2021 Otoniel, the head of the Gulf Clan.

Many consider Sánchez a hero because he commanded 200 soldiers who entered the jungle, but he assures that they are the real heroes 70 natives who accompanied them and ended by finding children, a an unprecedented union in Colombia, which many consider a base for future advancement.

“Together we are invincible”

The military provided funding, helicopters, transportation, satellite phones, food and logistics, but the knowledge of the indigenous people’s ancestors was crucial to finding the children, as Sánchez admits. “Without indigenous people, we might still be looking for minorsbut without us [los militares]I don’t think there would be any. Separately we are important, but together we are invincible,” confides Sánchez, flaunting a straightforward, trust-building narrative.

In a public television program and surrounded by representatives of the indigenous peoples who participated in the rescue, the general surprised by singing the two key words of the National Guard anthem, “guard, guard”, to which the natives responded “strength, strength”. A picture of togetherness that is highly commented on in the country.

“We must unite, have faith and also work hard, hard and without a break. Faith makes us move mountains. When you lose hope, you’ve lost everything. When he stops fighting, he loses the war. The military, which is the most beloved institution of Colombians, very certainly now there will be more of themJust like our natives. All you have to do is talk,” says Sánchez.

The search for the children was arduous, but the rescuers did not lose hope. “The most difficult thing for me was neither my mood nor the weather conditions. it was uncertainty», emphasizes Sánchez.

“By comparing the children’s footprints with our GPS tracks, we can be sure of that we were close, about 40 meters, maybe the same day, or the day before, or the day after. We didn’t see them because in the jungle, more than 20 meters away, nothing is visible. In a football match at that distance you simply pass to score a goal, but in the jungle, more than 20 meters away, it is more than enough to get lost and be swallowed by the jungle”, explains the general, an air force officer, a native of the town of Boavita in Boyaca , with a merchant father and a teacher mother.

He assures, yes, that the last days have not changed him. “This is what I do every day. Special operations. And it was more difficult for others. Nothing has changed for me, but I learned a lot of things».