Chameleon Operation (Colombia)
Military operation carried out by the Colombian national army. / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chameleon Operation (in Spanish, Operación Camaleón) is a military operation by the National Army of Colombia that took place on June 13 and 14, 2010, with the aim of freeing four hostages held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group. The hostages included three members of the Colombian National Police (General Luis Herlindo Mendieta and Colonels Enrique Murillo and William Donato Gómez) and Sergeant Arbey Delgado from the national army. The operation took place in the municipality of El Retorno, in a jungle area where the Inírida river rises in the department of Guaviare, 28 kilometers from the site of Operation Jaque, which led to the release of 15 hostages in 2008.
Chameleon Operation | |||||
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Belligerents | |||||
National Army of Colombia | Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia | ||||
Strength | |||||
300 military personnel | 40 "guerrilleros" | ||||
1970s Anorí 1980s 1990s Casa Verde | Girasoles | Las Delicias | Quebrada El Billar | Miraflores | Siege of Mitú 2000s Berlín | Resumption of the demilitarized zone | Alcatraz | Operation Jaque | Operacion Fenix | Dinastía Year 2010 Camaleón | Sodoma | Némésis | Odiseo | 2013 Colombian clashes (peace process) | |||||
This mission was made possible thanks to several months of analysis by military intelligence and information gathered by army and police agents who infiltrated the FARC, as well as during the capture of guerrilla Marcos Parrilla. Parrilla provided the coordinates of the area where the hostages were being held. At 5:30 p.m. on June 10, President Álvaro Uribe gave the go-ahead to the commander of the military forces, General Freddy Padilla de León, for the deployment of troops and the launch of Operation Chameleon. The offensive began on June 13 and led to the release of four hostages held for almost twelve years. The guerrillas' point of view on these events is unknown.
Following the success of the operation, the army commander, Oscar González, declared that the informers who had made the rescue possible had received a reward of 2.5 billion pesos. For the Colombian political opposition, Operation Chameleon was set up to influence the run-off presidential election, a claim denied by Álvaro Uribe.