Colombia's President Gustavo Petro decorates a soldier member of the team of nearly 200 rescuers who took part in the successful search for four Indigenous children lost in the Colombian Amazon at the Nariño Presidential Palace in Bogota on June 26, 2023. - The Colombian government is working with British producer Simon Chinn to make a documentary about the four Indigenous children who survived 40 days alone in the Amazon after a plane crash that killed their mother, the country's president said on June 23. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro decorates a soldier member of the team of nearly 200 rescuers who took part in the successful search for four Indigenous children lost in the Colombian Amazon at the Nariño Presidential Palace in Bogota on June 26, 2023. – The Colombian government is working with British producer Simon Chinn to make a documentary about the four Indigenous children who survived 40 days alone in the Amazon after a plane crash that killed their mother, the country’s president said on June 23. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
Colombia on Monday awarded one of its highest decorations to the soldiers, Indigenous rescuers and civil servants who led a successful operation to find four children lost for weeks in the Amazon.
In a ceremony held in Bogota, President Gustavo Petro praised the collaboration between the military and Indigenous communities, awarding members of the mission, dubbed Operation Hope, with medals of the Order of Boyaca — the second-highest distinction in the armed forces, and the highest for civilians.
“More than the medals, which are symbolic… the great prize, the great reward, is called life,” Petro said.
The search for the four Indigenous children, which captured worldwide attention, was launched after the plane they were traveling on crashed in the Amazon on May 1.
Siblings Lesly, Soleiny, Tien Norie and Cristin — ages 13, 9, 5 and 1, respectively — survived the impact, and more than a month of living in the jungle, guided by “ancestral” knowledge, Petro said.
They were found June 9.
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro decorates a soldier member of the team of nearly 200 rescuers who took part in the successful search for four Indigenous children lost in the Colombian Amazon at the Nariño Presidential Palace in Bogota on June 26, 2023. – The Colombian government is working with British producer Simon Chinn to make a documentary about the four Indigenous children who survived 40 days alone in the Amazon after a plane crash that killed their mother, the country’s president said on June 23. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)Colombian Air Force General Pedro Sanchez, Military Forces Special Operations Commander and leader of the search operation that found the four Indigenous kids lost after a plane crash in the Amazon, gestures before receiving a decoration at the Nariño Presidential Palace in Bogota on June 26, 2023. – The Colombian government is working with British producer Simon Chinn to make a documentary about the four Indigenous children who survived 40 days alone in the Amazon after a plane crash that killed their mother, the country’s president said on June 23. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
The search saw the military deploy helicopters, satellites and loudspeakers playing a recording of the children’s grandmother, among other tactics.
The Indigenous rescuers they collaborated with say they connected with “mother Earth” thanks to ayahuasca, a traditional drink with hallucinogenic properties.
Petro praised the collaboration for “teaching all of Colombia how, being united, we can find life.”
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro embraces an Indigenous woman, member of the team of nearly 200 rescuers who took part in the successful search for four Indigenous children lost in the Colombian Amazon, at the Nariño Presidential Palace in Bogota on June 26, 2023. – The Colombian government is working with British producer Simon Chinn to make a documentary about the four Indigenous children who survived 40 days alone in the Amazon after a plane crash that killed their mother, the country’s president said on June 23. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)Clara Urrego (R), mother of the Colombian President Gustavo Petro, gestures during a ceremony to decorate the members of the team of nearly 200 rescuers who took part in the successful search for four Indigenous children lost in the Colombian Amazon, at the Nariño Presidential Palace in Bogota on June 26, 2023. – The Colombian government is working with British producer Simon Chinn to make a documentary about the four Indigenous children who survived 40 days alone in the Amazon after a plane crash that killed their mother, the country’s president said on June 23. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)Colombian President Gustavo Petro (C) and his Defence Minister Ivan Velasquez (2-L) look at the dog Drugia, mother of Wilson, the rescue dog who disappeared in the search for four missing indigenous children in the Colombian Amazon, at the Presidential Palace of Nariño in Bogotá, on June 26, 2023. – The Colombian government is working with British producer Simon Chinn to make a documentary about the four Indigenous children who survived 40 days alone in the Amazon after a plane crash that killed their mother, the country’s president said on June 23. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
Also awarded decorations Monday was a dog named Drugia — the mother of Wilson, the military’s rescue canine who at one point apparently located the children in the dense jungle, but got then separated from them and remains lost.
General Pedro Sanchez, leader of Operation Hope, said monuments would be built to remember the legacy of the 6-year-old Belgian Malinois shepherd.
The children are recovering at a military hospital in Bogota.
The government has announced it is preparing a documentary on their discovery with British producer Simon Chinn.
