Out of Captivity : Surviving 1,967 Days in the Colombian Jungle

The Transition91tioned drugs, Gómez was cordial. Keith played up to his ego when hementioned the Browning Gómez was carrying. He got a big grin onhis face and pulled it out to show it off better. Keith took over talkingto Gómez directly with the little Spanish he had. Keith tried to tell himsomething about the weapon’s history, and the FARC Front commanderled Keith out of the building.Marc and I were led outside as well. We could see that Keith wasin a vehicle with Gómez and a couple of his bodyguards. Burujo andRamírez were in the front seat of a Toyota Land Cruiser—a silver onethis time. Marc was placed in the backseat of that car and I was put inanother. A minute or so after Keith’s car drove off, we followed.The young guard watching me chambered a round and kept his gunon me during the five-minute ride to our next stop. No one spoke. Infact, the driver had turned off the radio as soon as we’d gotten underway. We drove down another dirt road until we came to what looked likea more permanent FARC compound. The structures were built muchthe same as others we’d seen, but instead of nylon tarps for roofs, thesehad corrugated tin roofs. Around each of the buildings, wooden walkwayshad been built to keep people out of the mud, with other walkwaysbisecting the compound and running along the perimeter.When we entered, we had to walk past another of the wall-less structures.A group of about fifty to sixty FARC guerrillas—low-level typesof all ages and both genders—were clustered there. Their stony staresmade me feel like I was doing one of those perp walks I’d seen on thetelevision news when a suspect is led past a gauntlet of angry citizensand cops. One guy caught my attention. He was very short and very,very fat with a thick mustache. He reminded me of a Mexican bandit.All he needed was a pair of bandoliers crossed on his chest to completethe look. We were led into a small room that had clear plastic walls partitioningit off from the larger open space.We took the three plastic patio chairs in the room. Down a waysfrom us in another room, Sonia was sitting. She was joined by the fat