Jhon Frank Pinchao Blanco (born 1970) is a Colombian

policeman A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of ...

with the rank of Second Lieutenant who was kidnapped by the

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army (, FARC–EP or FARC) was a Marxist–Leninist Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian conflict starting in 1964. The FARC-EP was officially founded in ...

(FARC) guerrilla groupEL TIEMPO.com
/ref> after FARC's attack on the town of

Mitú Mitú () is the capital town of the department of Vaupés in Colombia. It is a small town located in South eastern Colombia in the Amazon Basin. Founded in 1936, Mitú lies next to the Vaupés River at 180 meters above sea level. It is where th ...

Vaupés Department Vaupés () is a departments of Colombia, department of southeastern Colombia in the Amazon rainforest, jungle covered Amazonía Region. It is located in the southeast part of the country, bordering Brazil to the east, the department of Amazonas ...

on November 1, 1998. He escaped in 2007.

Hostage

The attack on Mitú lasted 12 hours until the policemen ran out of ammunition, then FARC took over the town for 3 days. Pinchao was among the approximately 60 policemen taken as hostages. During the FARC-Government peace process (1999-2002) the

Colombian government The Government of Colombia is a republic with separation of powers into executive, judicial and legislative branches. Its legislature has a congress, its judiciary has a supreme court, and its executive branch has a president. The citiz ...

brokered a deal with the FARC and all of the low ranking policemen held as hostages were freed. The FARC did not release seven high-ranking officers, including Pinchao. In July 2003 the FARC allowed a

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, Jorge Enríque Botero, to interview them. After that, Pinchao was not seen again until after his escape in 2007. According to the

Colombian Army The National Army of Colombia () is the land warfare service branch of the Military Forces of Colombia. With over 361,420 active personnel as of 2020, it is the largest and oldest service branch in Colombia, and is the second largest army in the ...

, the guerrilla commander in charge of the hostages was

Gerardo Aguilar Ramírez Gerardo Aguilar Ramírez, known by his ''nom de guerre'' César, was a Colombian guerrilla leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). He was the commander of the Eastern Bloc's 1st Front. For five years he was in charge of ...

, aka "César," Commander of the Southern Bloc's 1st Front and member of the Central Command of the FARC.

Freedom

In a televised interview with

Caracol TV Caracol is a large ancient Maya archaeological site, located in what is now the Cayo District of Belize. It is situated approximately south of Xunantunich, and the town of San Ignacio, and from the Macal River. It rests on the Vaca Platea ...

, Pinchao partially narrated his quest to freedom. He mentioned that while in his almost nine (9) years of captivity he had seen political figures

Ingrid Betancourt Ingrid may refer to: * Ingrid (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Ingrid Burley (born 1986), rapper known mononymously as Ingrid * Ingrid (record label), also an artist collective * Tropical Storm Ingrid, various cy ...

and

Clara Rojas Clara Leticia Rojas González (born December 20, 1964) is a Colombian lawyer, university lecturer, and campaign manager for former senator and presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt. She was kidnapped along with Betancourt by the FARC guerri ...

also held as captives. He had also seen the three

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

contractors

Keith Stansell Keith Donald Stansell is an American Northrop Grumman employee who was captured by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, or FARC) and was held hostage from February 13, 2003, to July 2, 2008. He ...

, Thomas Howes and

Marc Gonsalves Marc David Gonsalves (born 1972) is an American Northrop Grumman employee who was abducted by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and was held hostage from February 13, 2003, to July 2, 2008. He was rescued in Operation Jaque, along ...

also kidnapped by the FARC.US Embassy in Bogotatownhall.com; Colombia Hostage Was With 3 Americans
/ref> Pinchao planned a way to escape for a year, and on April 28, 2007, he walked through virgin jungle for seventeen days until an indigenous group took him to a group of Police's Jungle Commandos, who were in the area destroying narcotics and narcoprocessing labs in the jungles of Vaupés by the

Papuri River Papuri may refer to: * Papuri Island, an island of the Gambier Islands of French Polynesia *Papurí River in South America {{disambiguation ...

in the municipality of Pacoa. Pinchao was severely dehydrated and showed signs of malnourishment. On May 15, 2007, Pinchao was transferred to a police base in San José del Guaviare and then to

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

. He was taken for check-ups at the National Police Central Hospital where he finally was reunited with his family.

Family

Pinchao is son of Luis Evelio Pinchao and Rosa Blanco. Jhon Pinchao Blanco has a son, who was born while he was in captivity.

Hostage

Freedom

Family

See also

References

See also