Skip to main content

Check Operation.


Today, July 2nd, we Colombians are conmemorating the first aniversary of The Check Operation (La Operación Jaque in Spanish). Check as in chess.
The Check Operation was a military operation carried out by the intelligence of the Colombia Army in which 15 hostages held by the left-wing guerrilla Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia FARC were rescued succesfully without shooting one single bullet. No one was injured but two guerrilla commanders were captured. The hostages were a former presidential candidate, Ingid Betancourt, 3 American contractors of CIA, 11 Colombia Army and 4 Police members, who had been kidnapped for between 7 and 10 years.
This operation is considered by experts the best military operation in Colombian history, only compared to the ones of the Independence in the beginning of 19th Century, and the best intelligency operation in the world's history since the Army members who carried out the operation infiltrated the FARC´s communications in the jungle and impersonated its top commanders in order to get together the 15 hostages and pick them up by a helicopter, making the FARC believe that they were members of a NGO and the press. After the departure, the army members, in the helicopter, subjugated and arrested two guerrilla commanders who were accompanying the hostages. Finally, the former hostages met their families and co-workers.
In my opinion The Check Operation was exceptional because the probabilities of failing were huge and it could end in the death of the hostages, the Army members and, even, the guerrilla who were watching over the hostages. When I watch the videos of the operation, they seem to me, and for many people, a movie with an incredible script. But, the intelligence of the Colombia Army succeedde, what makes me feel proud since once I belonged to that army as a soldier in my mandatory military service.
The day of the operation I had the chance of covering as a reporter the Check Operation. I was sent to the US Embassy in Bogota in order to get information about the three American contractors, but the only information I got was the one provided by the ambassador William Brownfield through a press comference. According to the ambassador, at that moment the contractors were already flying to the US.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The John F. Kennedy's district in Bogota, Colombia.

Bogota, Colombia's capital city, is divided by 20 districts (Localidades, in Sapnish). One of them was named Kennedy, after the former president of the United States who founded the district himself. This district is the most populated, 1,5 million inhabitants, and one of the largest in Bogota. John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie visted Bogota in Dicember 1961 within the framework of the Alliance for Progress, in which Kennedy founded the neighborhood for the poorest people in the city. The neighborhood was named then Ciudad Techo (Techo City) and 12.000 houses began to be build. In 1964 after Kennedy's assessination the residents of the neighborhood changed its name to Ciudad Kennedy (Kennedy City) and the Council of Bogota approved the name change in 1966.  President Kennedy inaugurates the housing project Ciudad Techo (John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum) Last November 22nd, 50th anniversary Kennedy's assassination, the residents of the d...
Post a Comment
Read more

Americans are all the inhabitants of the continent

This is the translation of an article that I wrote in Octuber, 2010. It is about my point of view on the habit of Spanish speakers to call people and things from the United States 'americanos' (American), when a correct name exists: estadounidenses (something like Unitedstaters). Last week I attended the presentation of the Unitedstater Studies Institute (Instituto de Estudios Estadounidenses) in Bogota, Colombia, attracted by the posibility of getting to know something else about the United States, county which I like since my childhood and in which I have had the chance of living briefly somewhen. What attracted my attention the most was the name of the institute itself. Its name is  Unitedstater Studies Institute and not American like some others which exist in some Spanish-speaking countries. And I believe that  Unitedstater is the correct name for the people born and nationalized in the United States. Not American because that name belong to all the inhabitants o...
Post a Comment
Read more

There's something about Baranquilla's women!

Barranquilla is one of the main cities in Colombia, it is the country's first port in its Atlantic Ocean coast and the entrance from the Caribbean Sea. Important issues for development, such as aviation, Radio and soccer, among many others, have gotten into the country through this city. Because of all of this, Barranquilla is known as the 'Colombia's Golden Gate'. Its women, as the ones from entire Colombia, are consider as some of the pretties in the world. Because of the Caribbean factor, they are happy, natural and excellent dancers. Shakira's Instagram One of the most well-known Colombians in the world is Shakira, maybe the most famous Colombian alive. Her voice, her beauty and her dancing have fascinated million of fans thanks to, in part, her singing both in English and Spanish. It was her fifth studio album the first one to be recorded in English https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weRHyjj34ZE . She has Arab roots since she is a Lebanese descendant and h...
Post a Comment
Read more