With applause and pleasant memories, the 14th anniversary of Operation Check was commemorated, considered the most important of the Colombian military forces, even listed as perfect. The celebration was presided over by Major General Carlos Iván Moreno Ojeda, Second Commander of the National Army and had a special greeting from President Iván Duque.
Check it is a model of a rescue maneuver due to its talented planning, which was designed in the canton of Apiay in the department of Meta. It was in San José del Guaviare that the Libertad 1 helicopter landed so that the former hostages could resume their lives and freedom.
“We are the National Army of Colombia, they are free”, were the words for 15 people deprived of their liberty; One of the most important rescues was that of the former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and that of the then Second Lieutenant Raimundo Malagón, currently a Colonel, kidnapped for more than 10 years since 1998.
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“Remembering next to the Libertad 1 helicopter, in which we were freed, brings back quite nostalgic and happy memories, the taste of freedom… we can only thank God for that liberating feat and for being here sharing with Colombian society”, Colonel Raimundo Malagón affirmed.
The deception action, strategically planned by members of the National Army, highly trained and executed in about 22 minutes, allowed the hostages to be gathered in one place, to later make them board a helicopter that would take them to freedom.
Among those released were those who at the time were Captain Juan Carlos Bermeo, First Corporal Amaón Flórez Pantoja and Second Sergeant Erasmo Romero Rodríguez, Vice First Sergeant José Ricardo Marulanda Valencia and First Corporals José Miguel Arteaga and William Humberto Pérez Medina.
Also in the group were Julio César Buitrago Cuesta, first corporal, Armando Castellanos Gaona, subintendent, Lieutenant Vianey Javier Rodríguez Porras, John Jairo Durán Tuay, first corporal, and civilians Thomas Howes, Keith Stansell and Marc Gonsalves, US contractors. , some of these people suffered captivity for around 10 years.
With this operation, the National Army of Colombia demonstrated at a national and international level that, without using firearms, it developed a large-scale maneuver with high precision, typical of the best armies in the world.
