Out of Captivity

Last updated

Out of Captivity, subtitled Surviving 1,967 Days in the Colombian Jungle, is a 2009 book written by Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell, and Thomas Howes with the assistance of author Gary Brozek. It narrates the nearly five and a half years they spent in the Colombian jungle as prisoners of the FARC, an insurgent organization, which accused them of being members of the CIA after their plane crashed in a mountainous region on February 13, 2003.

Marc Gonsalves, served in the USAF, Keith Stansell was a Marine, and Tom Howes is a professional pilot. They were civilian contractors working for the U.S. Department of Defense at the time of the accident.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia</span> Colombian guerrilla movement

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army is a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian conflict starting in 1964. The FARC-EP was officially founded in 1966 from peasant self-defense groups formed from 1948 during the "Violencia" as a peasant force promoting a political line of agrarianism and anti-imperialism. They are known to employ a variety of military tactics, in addition to more unconventional methods, including terrorism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Íngrid Betancourt</span> Colombian politician and anti-corruption activist

Íngrid Betancourt Pulecio is a Colombian politician, former senator and anti-corruption activist, especially opposing political corruption.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darién Gap</span> Break in the Pan-American Highway consisting of a large swath of undeveloped swampland and forest

The Darién Gap is a geographic region in the Isthmus of Darien or Isthmus of Panama connecting the North and South American continents within Central America, consisting of a large watershed, forest, and mountains in Panama's Darién Province and the northern portion of Colombia's Chocó Department.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape</span> U.S. military survival training program

Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) is a training program, best known by its military acronym, that prepares U.S. military personnel, U.S. Department of Defense civilians, and private military contractors to survive and "return with honor" in survival scenarios. The curriculum includes survival skills, evading capture, application of the military code of conduct, and techniques for escape from captivity. Formally established by the U.S. Air Force at the end of World War II and the start of the Cold War, it was extended to the Navy and United States Marine Corps and consolidated within the Air Force during the Korean War with greater focus on "resistance training".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juliane Koepcke</span> Sole survivor of LANSA Flight 508

Juliane Koepcke, also known by her married name Juliane Diller, is a German-Peruvian mammalogist who specialises in bats. The daughter of German zoologists Maria and Hans-Wilhelm Koepcke, she became famous at the age of 17 as the sole survivor of the 1971 LANSA Flight 508 plane crash; after falling 3,000 m (10,000 ft) while strapped to her seat and suffering numerous injuries, she survived 11 days alone in the Amazon rainforest until local fishermen rescued her.

Leszli Kálli is a Colombian-born author who was kidnapped and held for slightly more than a year by Colombian leftist guerrillas. The diary she kept to record her experiences was published in February, 2007.

Guillermo Gaviria Correa was the state governor of Antioquia, a province of over 6 million people in northwestern Colombia. Kidnapped by FARC guerrillas during a march against violence on April 21, 2002, he was held captive for over a year deep in the northwestern colombian jungle, bordering between Antioquia and Chocó, until he was killed there by the FARC along with other nine fellow hostages, including the politician and former Minister of defense, Gilberto Echeverri Mejía, in response to an attempted military rescue back on May 5, 2003. Gaviria Correa's letters survived his execution, and were published as Diary of a Kidnapped Colombian Governor. His gubernatorial agenda also survived, carried on by his younger brother Anibal. Gaviria Correa was nominated posthumously for the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, but did not receive the prize that year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jhon Frank Pinchao</span>

Jhon Frank Pinchao Blanco is a Colombian policeman with the rank of Second Lieutenant who was kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group after Farc's attack on the town of Mitú, Vaupés Department on November 1, 1998. He escaped in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kidnappings in Colombia</span>

Kidnappings in Colombia refers to the practice of kidnapping in the Republic of Colombia. This criminal practice was first introduced in modern Colombian history during the early 1970s by the guerrilla movements and, later, also by criminal groups. With the release of Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt on July 2, 2008 this practice gained worldwide notoriety.

Gustavo Rueda Díaz, known by his nom de guerre Martín Caballero, was a Colombian guerrilla leader, member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and commander of the 37th Front Caribbean Bloc of the FARC-EP that operates in Caribbean Region. He was killed in action by the Colombian Army after a military operation on 25 October 2007. Colombian authorities wanted him on charges of rebellion, extortion, terrorism, first degree murder, armed assault, assault and battery and kidnapping among others. Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos described his death as the "most important" blow against FARC in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humanitarian exchange</span>

The Humanitarian Exchange or Humanitarian Accord referred to a possible accord to exchange hostages for prisoners between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group and the Government of Colombia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clara Rojas</span> Colombian Vice Presidential candidate

Clara Leticia Rojas González is a Colombian lawyer, university lecturer, and campaign manager for former senator and presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt. She was kidnapped along with Betancourt by the FARC guerrilla group near San Vicente del Caguán on February 23, 2002, while Betancourt was campaigning for the presidency. After the kidnapping, Rojas was named as Betancourt's vice-presidential candidate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marc Gonsalves</span> American Northrop Grumman employee (born 1972)

Marc David Gonsalves is an American Northrop Grumman employee who was abducted by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and was held hostage from February 13, 2003, to July 2, 2008. He was rescued in Operation Jaque, along with the two other American contractors, Ingrid Betancourt, and eleven members of the Colombian security forces. On March 12, 2009, Gonsalves, Keith Stansell and Thomas Howes were each awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for the Defense of Freedom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Howes (hostage)</span> American Northrop Grumman employee

Thomas Randolph Howes is an American Northrop Grumman employee who was captured by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and was held hostage from February 13, 2003 to July 2, 2008. He was rescued in Operation Jaque, along with the two other American contractors, Ingrid Betancourt, and eleven Colombian security personnel. On March 12, 2009, Howes, Keith Stansell and Marc Gonsalves were each awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for the Defense of Freedom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keith Stansell</span> American Northrop Grumman employee

Keith Donald Stansell is an American Northrop Grumman employee who was captured by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and was held hostage from February 13, 2003 to July 2, 2008. He was rescued in Operation Jaque, along with the two other American contractors, Ingrid Betancourt, and eleven members of the Colombian security forces. On March 12, 2009, Stansell, Marc Gonsalves and Thomas Howes were each awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for the Defense of Freedom.

James Petras is a retired Bartle Professor (Emeritus) of Sociology at Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York and adjunct professor at Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada who has published on political issues with particular focus on Latin America and the Middle East, imperialism, globalization, and leftist social movements.

Operation Jaque, named after the first letter of the month of the operation, July, and referencing check in chess, was a Colombian military operation that resulted in the successful rescue of 15 hostages, including former Colombian presidential candidate Íngrid Betancourt. The hostages had been held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The operation took place on 2 July 2008, along the Apaporis River in the department of Guaviare.

The depiction of Colombia in popular culture, especially the portrayal of Colombian people in film and fiction, has been asserted by Colombian organizations and government to be largely negative and has raised concerns that it reinforces, or even engenders, societal prejudice and discrimination due to association with narco-trafficking, terrorism, illegal immigration and other criminal elements, poverty and welfare. The Colombian government-funded Colombia is Passion advertisement campaign as an attempt to improve Colombia's image abroad, with mixed results hoping for more positive views on Colombia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanja Nijmeijer</span>

Tanja Nijmeijer, also known as Alexandra Nariño, is a Dutch former guerrilla fighter and English teacher who has been a member of the Colombian guerrilla group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) since 2002. She has also been one of the group's leading public figures since the discovery of her diary in 2007. She was part of the negotiating team involved in successful peace talks with the Colombian government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yossi Ghinsberg</span> Israeli adventurer, author and speaker

Yosseph "Yossi" Ghinsberg is an Israeli adventurer, author, entrepreneur, humanitarian, and motivational speaker, now based in Byron Bay, Australia. Ghinsberg is most known for his survival story when he was stranded in an uncharted part of the Bolivian Amazon jungle for three weeks in 1981. Ghinsberg's survival story was enacted in the 2017 psychological thriller Jungle, starring Daniel Radcliffe as Yossi Ghinsberg. Ghinsberg's story was also featured in the documentary series I Shouldn't Be Alive on Discovery Channel.

References