RichA <rander3127@gmail.com> wrote in
news:ssq42r$lva9$50@news.freedyn.de:

> Mitchell Holman wrote
>
>> They sure as fuck weren't liberals.

Four young children have been found alive after more than a month
wandering the Amazon where they survived like �children of the jungle,�
according to Colombia�s President Gustavo Petro.

�Their learning from indigenous families and their learning of living in
the jungle has saved them,� Petro told reporters on Friday, after
announcing on Twitter that they had been found 40 days after they went
missing following a plane crash that killed their mother.

Petro said the children were all together when they were found, adding
they had demonstrated an example of �total survival that will be
remembered in history.�

�They are children of the jungle and now they are children of Colombia,�
he added.

Revealing their discovery earlier in the day, the Colombian president had
tweeted an image that seems to show search crews treating the children in
a forest clearing, along with the words: �A joy for the whole country!�

Their grandmother, Mar�a F�tima Valencia, said she was �going to hug all
of them� and �thank everyone� as soon as they were reunited in their home
city of Villavicencio, where they live.

�I�m going to encourage them, I�m going to push them forward, I need them
here,� she said.

The children, who appear gaunt in the photos, were evaluated by doctors
before being flown out by the Colombian Air Force on an air ambulance to
the Military Transport Air Command in Bogota, the capital, early Saturday
morning.

Four medics, including a pediatrician and a neonatologist, provided
treatment on board the plane, according to the air force.

�We hope that tomorrow they will be treated at the military hospital,�
Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez said earlier Friday night, while praising
the Colombian military and indigenous communities for helping find them.

Petro said the children were weak, needed food and would have their mental
status assessed. �Let the doctors make their assessment and we will know,�
he added.

Stranded after plane crash
Lesly Jacobombaire Mucutuy, age 13, Soleiny Jacobombaire Mucutuy, 9, Tien
Ranoque Mucutuy, 4, and infant Cristin Ranoque Mucutuy were stranded in
the jungle on May 1, the only survivors of a deadly plane crash.

Their mother, Magdalena Mucutuy Valencia, was killed in the crash along
with two other adult passengers: pilot Hernando Murcia Morales and
Yarupari indigenous leader Herman Mendoza Hern�ndez.

The children�s subsequent disappearance into the deep forest galvanized a
massive military-led search operation involving over a hundred Colombian
special forces troops and over 70 indigenous scouts combing the area.

For weeks, the search turned up only tantalizing clues, including
footprints, a dirty diaper and a bottle. Family members said the oldest
child had some experience in the forest, but hopes waned as the weeks went
on.

At some point during their ordeal, they�d had to defend themselves from a
dog, Petro said.

He called the children�s survival a �gift to life� and an indication that
they were �cared for by the jungle.�

The Colombian president said he had spoken with the grandfather of the
children who said that their survival was in the hands of the jungle which
ultimately chose to return them.

The grandfather, Fidencio Valencia, said he and his wife had endured many
sleepless nights worrying about the children.

�For us this situation was like being in the dark, we walked for the sake
of walking. Living for the sake of living because the hope of finding them
kept us alive. When we found the children we felt joy, we don�t know what
to do, but we are grateful to God,� he said.

The children�s other grandfather, Narcizo Mucutuy, said he wants his
grandchildren to be brought back home soon.

�I beg the president of Colombia to bring our grandchildren to
Villavicencio, here where the grandparents are, where their uncles and
aunts are, and then take them to Bogota,� he said.

�The miracle came�
Indigenous leader Lucho Acosta, the coordinator of indigenous scouts,
credited the �extra effort� of search and rescue teams and local
authorities to find the children in a statement on Friday.

�They all added a little effort so that this Operation Hope could be
successful, and we can hope the kids will emerge alive and stronger than
before. We have been hoping together with the strength of our ancestors,
and our strength prevailed,� he said.

�We never stopped looking for them until the miracle came,� the Colombian
Defense Ministry tweeted.

During a press conference Friday evening, Petro said he hoped to speak
with the children on Saturday.

�The most important thing now is what the doctors say, they have been lost
for 40 days, their health condition must have been stressed. We need to
check their mental state too,� he said.

Petro, who was previously forced to backtrack after mistakenly tweeting
that they had been found last month, described the children�s 40-day saga
as �a remarkable testament of survival.�

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/09/americas/colombia-children-amazon-found-
intl-latam/index.html