Qualla: Operation Jaque https://qualla.com/operation-jaque en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:12 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/d/2/k/v/operation-jaque-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Operation Jaque https://qualla.com/operation-jaque Operation Jaque: Introduction https://qualla.com/operation-jaque/ Photo credit -F3rn4nd0 23:56, 25 June 2007 (UTC), CC BY 2.5. The helicopter landed and the helicopter was a lie. The pilots were Colombian Army. The men in Che Guevara T-shirts were Colombian Army. The aid workers were Colombian Army. The whole scene was scripted and rehearsed through a week and a half of acting classes. On the morning of July 2, 2008, along the Apaporis River in the department of Guaviare, two Mi-17 helicopters touched down in a clearing, took on fifteen handcuffed hostages - including Íngrid Betancourt and three American contractors - and spent exactly twenty-two minutes on the ground while the FARC commander known as César chatted with the crew and then, airborne, watched in astonishment as the soldiers around him subdued him, stripped off their costumes, and told his captives they were free.

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Image: -F3rn4nd0 23:56, 25 June 2007 (UTC) | CC BY 2.5

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/2/k/v/operation-jaque-wp/d2kv-operation-jaque-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Operation Jaque: Who They Were https://qualla.com/operation-jaque/ Photo credit -F3rn4nd0 23:56, 25 June 2007 (UTC), CC BY 2.5. Íngrid Betancourt, a French-Colombian senator and former presidential candidate, had been abducted on February 23, 2002, while campaigning in southern Colombia. She had spent more than six years in the jungle. Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes, and Keith Stansell were American defense...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/2/k/v/operation-jaque-wp/d2kv-operation-jaque-who-they-were.mp3 0:06 2 full Operation Jaque: The Long Setup https://qualla.com/operation-jaque/ Photo credit -F3rn4nd0 23:56, 25 June 2007 (UTC), CC BY 2.5. The intelligence gathering started long before the helicopters took off. According to one American official, Colombia placed a mole inside FARC at least a year before the operation. A colonel involved later said Colombia had located the hostages about four months before the rescu...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/2/k/v/operation-jaque-wp/d2kv-operation-jaque-the-long-setup.mp3 0:06 3 full Operation Jaque: Twenty-Two Minutes on the Ground https://qualla.com/operation-jaque/ Photo credit -F3rn4nd0 23:56, 25 June 2007 (UTC), CC BY 2.5. On the morning of July 2, the hostages were moved across the Apaporis to a landing zone, where their captors told them they would be transferred to a different location. Two Mi-17s came in. One held Colombian agents in Che Guevara T-shirts; four more soldiers wore the clothes of ...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/2/k/v/operation-jaque-wp/d2kv-operation-jaque-twenty-two-minutes-on-the-ground.mp3 0:06 4 full Operation Jaque: The Aftermath and the Arguments https://qualla.com/operation-jaque/ Photo credit -F3rn4nd0 23:56, 25 June 2007 (UTC), CC BY 2.5. Uribe's approval rating jumped from 73% to 91%. Betancourt, interviewed in Paris, compared the operation to the Israeli raid at Entebbe. French President Nicolas Sarkozy thanked Uribe and flew Betancourt's family to Bogotá the same night. U.S. President George W. Bush, John McCai...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/2/k/v/operation-jaque-wp/d2kv-operation-jaque-the-aftermath-and-the-arguments.mp3 0:06 5 full Operation Jaque: What Was Bought That Day https://qualla.com/operation-jaque/ Photo credit -F3rn4nd0 23:56, 25 June 2007 (UTC), CC BY 2.5. The operation returned fifteen people to their families. It also marked a turning point in Colombia's long war with the FARC. Within hours of the helicopters landing safely, Colombian forces cornered what remained of the 1st Front and offered amnesty to any member who surrendered...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/2/k/v/operation-jaque-wp/d2kv-operation-jaque-what-was-bought-that-day.mp3 0:06 6 full