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

ELEVENDeadNovember 2005–May 2006TOMFrom our cage at the Exercise Camp, it was hard for us to see whetherPlan Patriota was effective, but by November of 2005, we certainlyknew that it was in full force. During the fall of 2005, we had heard theFARC doing a lot of road building, and that activity must have caughtthe attention of the Colombian military. By November, the OV-10 andFantasma attacks that always spooked Milton intensified and becamenightly occurrences. Milton had a special fear of the Fantasma, whichhe called “the Pig,” but we knew better. Even though it didn’t havethe deadly weapons system capabilities of the Pig, in many ways theaircraft the FARC referred to as “the Cross” actually posed a greaterthreat to us.What the FARC called the Cross was in fact a surveillance airplanemanufactured by the Schweitzer Aircraft Corporation. Its long thin fuselageand thin gliderlike wings earned it its name. Schweitzer was