Jaque, 14 years of a perfect operation

In the framework of an imposing military ceremony, presided over by Major General Carlos Iván Moreno Ojeda, second commander of the National Army, the secretary of government of the department of Meta, Dr. Hernán Gómez Niño, some of the released and special guests, the commemoration of the 14 years of this epic military action was developed.

Considered one of the most emblematic military operations in Colombia's military history, Operation Jaque is 14 years old; this feat of military intelligence, Army Aviation and ground operational components, was developed in the midst of different procedures and was implemented so strategically, that it meant giving a forceful blow to terrorism.

The deception action, strategically planned by members of the National Army, highly trained and executed in about twenty-two minutes, allowed the kidnapped to be gathered in the same place, to later make them board a helicopter that would take them to freedom.

Among those released were those who at the time of the plagiarism were Captain Juan Carlos Bermeo, First Corporal Amaón Flórez Pantoja and Second Sergeant Erasmo Romero Rodríguez, who were kidnapped in August 1998, in Miraflores (Guaviare); Second Lieutenant Raimundo Malagón, and now an active colonel, kidnapped in August 1998 in Uribe (Meta); First Deputy Sergeant José Ricardo Marulanda Valencia and First Corporals José Miguel Arteaga and William Humberto Pérez Medina, of the National Army, were kidnapped by terrorism in 1998, in El Billar (Caquetá). Also in the group was Íngrid Betancourt, who while campaigning as a candidate for the Presidency of Colombia was kidnapped on February 23, 2002; of the National Police were Julio César Buitrago Cuesta, corporal first, kidnapped in Miraflores (Guaviare); Armando Castellanos Gaona, subintendent, kidnapped in La Arada, Tolima; in 1999; Lieutenant Vianey Javier Rodríguez Porras, kidnapped in Mitú (Vaupés); John Jairo Durán Tuay, first corporal, kidnapped on August 3, 1998, and civilians Thomas Howes, Keith Stansell and Marc Gonsalves, American contractors, some of these people suffered captivity for about 10 years.

In the historical memory of the Colombian people, kidnapping was a reality that the country suffered, thousands of Colombians were victims of this scourge that terrorism implemented as part of its criminal dynamics.

With this operation, the Colombian National Army demonstrated nationally and internationally that, without using firearms, it developed a large-scale maneuver with high surgical precision, typical of the best armies in the world.