French Foreign Legion Soldier Outsmarts Guerrillas in Breathtaking River Escape

A French Foreign Legion soldier overpowered one of his Colombian captors and then jumped into a river with his hands still tied in a dramatic escape from a guerrilla group that reads like the plot of a thriller.

A senior Colombian military source told AFP on Tuesday how José Melo Charry made it to safety after nearly a month in captivity at the hands of drug-trafficking rebels.

Melo Charry, a Colombian citizen, was on leave in his homeland when he was abducted in the southwestern Nariño department on August 6 by a dissident faction of the defunct FARC guerrilla group.

According to the military source, he escaped by requesting permission to leave the camp to relieve himself.

Once away from the rebel encampment, he wrestled with his guard, immobilized him and seized his rifle.

Despite having his hands still bound, he jumped into a nearby river and managed to free himself, the source explained.

The soldier, who is in his mid-thirties, then trekked for four days through a region of the Colombian Andes teeming with armed groups before locating a police station where he sought help.

During his journey, he sheltered at a farmer’s house but feared the family might betray him to the guerrillas.

During his escape, he managed to contact his family, through whom he sent a message to security forces informing them that he was wandering the mountains.

“He managed to escape by hiding at night. Every time a motorcycle passed, he hid behind rocks and in trees,” the anonymous source told AFP.

The source added that Melo Charry was considered a “big fish” by the guerrillas and had his hands, feet and neck bound for most of his captivity.

A photograph shared by the French Armed Forces with AFP showed him dressed in an olive T-shirt and pants at a hospital, where he was airlifted for medical checks, with no visible injuries.

On Monday, authorities reported he was in good health and remained under military protection at the hospital.

The Central General Staff (EMC), the largest of the dissident FARC factions that rejected a historic 2016 peace agreement between the rebels and the state, claimed responsibility for his abduction.

The EMC did not demand a ransom for his release but had warned Colombia’s new right-wing president, Abelardo De la Espriella, against “any attempt at a rescue operation.”

France’s defense ministry confirmed that Melo Charry had not received authorization to travel to Colombia.

He was traveling with a woman who was also taken hostage and released hours later.

Kidnapping is commonly used by Colombian armed groups for extortion purposes or to exert political pressure.

Colombian-French politician Ingrid Betancourt became a symbol of the scourge of kidnappings in Colombia when she was captured by FARC in a jungle area in 2002 while campaigning for the presidency.

She was rescued six years later in a military operation.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

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