Author | Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell, Thomas Howes, Gary Grozek |
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Publication date | 2009 |
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.
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 La 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.
Íngrid Betancourt Pulecio is a Colombian politician, former senator and anti-corruption activist, especially opposing political corruption.
Paul Gonsalves was an American jazz tenor saxophonist best known for his association with Duke Ellington. At the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, Gonsalves played a 27-chorus solo in the middle of Ellington's "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue," a performance credited with revitalizing Ellington's waning career in the 1950s.
Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) is a training concept originally developed by the British during World War II. It is best known by its military acronym and prepares a range of Western forces to survive when evading or being captured. Initially focused on survival skills and evading capture, the curriculum was designed to equip military personnel, particularly pilots, with the necessary skills to survive in hostile environments. The program emphasised the importance of adhering to the military code of conduct and developing techniques for escape from captivity. Following the foundation laid by the British, the U.S. Air Force formally established its own SERE program at the end of World War II and the start of the Cold War. This program was extended to include the Navy and United States Marine Corps and was consolidated within the Air Force during the Korean War (1950–1953) with a greater focus on "resistance training."
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 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.
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.
Camp Gonsalves is a U.S. Marine Corps jungle warfare training area located in northern Okinawa, Japan, across the villages of Kunigami and Higashi. Established in 1958, it is the largest U.S. training facility in Okinawa. The camp is located in the Yanbaru forest protected area, raising long time ecological concerns enhanced by the 2016 plan to build new helipads.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Operation Jaque 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 and other criminal elements, terrorism, illegal immigration, and poverty.
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.
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 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.
On May 1, 2023, a Cessna 206 light aircraft with seven people on board crashed in the jungle in the Caquetá Department of Colombia. Two of the occupants – the pilot and one adult – were killed on impact, while five passengers, a mother and four children, survived the crash. The mother died several days later, leaving the children to fend for themselves. The children, between 11 months and 13 years old, survived for 40 days in the rainforest before being rescued by the Colombian military and volunteers from local indigenous groups.