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An extraordinary, gripping survival story that reveals the struggles and resilience of the Colombian Amazon's Indigenous peoples.In June 2023, four Indigenous children were found alive in the Colombian Amazon, forty days after the light aircraft they had been travelling in crashed into deep jungle, killing the three adults on board. For weeks the Colombian public had been transfixed by clues of the children's survival, of Indigenous tales of malign forest spirits, and of the unconventional tactics of the huge search team. But most now despaired of ever finding the children.
Thirteen-year-old Lesly Jacobombaire Mucutuy never gave up hope.
Forty Days in the Jungle tells the story of how the eldest child kept her siblings safe and fed during their time in the wilderness. It follows the battle-hardened soldiers and the brave Indigenous volunteers who undertook the search operation. And it delves into the Indigenous mythology - the spirits, shamans, and psychedelic potions - that was central to the drama and made it a rescue mission unlike any other. By investigating the children's motives for travel, the tragedy of their backstory, and the months that followed their rescue, it also shines a light on the painful history of Colombia's Amazonian peoples. Lesly and her siblings were survivors before they ever set foot on the plane.
About the author
Mat Youkee has lived in Colombia since 2010, working as a freelance journalist and professional investigator. He has covered Indigenous-rights issues in Colombia, Panama, Chile, and Argentina for The Guardian. His reporting has also appeared in The Economist, The Telegraph, the Financial Times, Americas Quarterly, Foreign Policy, and other local and international publications.
Summary
An extraordinary, gripping survival story that also reveals the struggles for social justice of the Indigenous people of Colombia and the Amazon.
In June 2023, four children — Lesly, Soleiny, Tien, and Crispin — were found alive in the Colombian Amazon, 40 days after the aircraft they were travelling in had crashed and killed the three adults on board (the pilot, the co-pilot, and the children’s mother). The eldest child, 13-year-old Lesly, took the decision to leave her dying mother, gather her siblings — aged 9, 5, and eleven months — and head into the jungle. She kept herself and her siblings alive for 40 days and nights, finally emerging when heavily armed soldiers closed in, yelling her name above the sound of barking dogs.
Forty Days the Jungle follows the compelling characters involved in the crash and what followed: Maria Fatima Valencia, the children’s grandmother, who had taught Lesly how to survive in the jungle; General Pedro Sánchez who led the rescue team; the shady figure of Manuel Ranoque, the father of the two youngest children; and even the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro.
But there is much more to this than an extraordinary survival story. Interwoven chapters address key questions about Colombian and Latin American history, society, and political economy — the answers to which shed light on the socio-political state of much of the world today. Colombia’s problems mirror, in many ways, the rising Global South in its 21st-century struggles against colonial histories and a globalised world.
