Colombia Forum

Vikingo
Joined 2009
Posts: 1701

3 years ago

A recent event

3 years ago

persuaded me to write this true story. My 78 year old mother in law in Puerto Asis (Putomayo) had a heart attack with fainting spells some 3 days ago. Some time passed before our twenty year old made her daily morning visit and found her in dire condition. She took her to a hospital by taxi, which seems customary in Colombia. This major hospital in a town of 70k has no specialists except a pediatrician nor is there any cardiologist wide and far. Forget Mocoa, the capital of the province. The nearest cardiologist with cardiac facilities is in Pasto, a 7 hour drive by ambulance through dangerous mountainous roads with frequent land slides because of the never-ending rain this year. A day went by before they located the highly experienced ambulance driver who safely took her to Pasto. She now was in civilization so to speak. They stabilized her, found a blocked artery, inserted a stent and she is now in recovery. To say the wife, I and the girls who dearly loved their adopted grandma weren't holding our breath all this time was an understatement. Added to that communication with our 20 year old was haphazardly because transmission towers are constantly blown up by the FARC, why beats hell out of me.
Myself, I dearly love the Abu like the girls call her (abuela), she has those old fashioned values that many of us seek and few of us found in today's women.
She lost two of her sons already, one died a week ago of an illness (therefore her infarto, I think), the other was robbed and killed by the FARC in Satinga (Nariño) 2 years ago, both men in their 50ties.
A third son is in jail since last year. He shot and killed 4 'mafiosos de drogas' years ago who were involved in killing his 19 year old nephew. He then was a wanted man, not only by the mafiosos who were after him like the devil after a soul, but wanted by the National Police as well who had an 'understanding' with the drug mafia.
So our pistolero hid out in the jungle, taking his revolver. How he survived several years like that is any ones guess but he finally run out of luck; wife got a surprise call after the family thought him dead by now, from a mountain village in the Cauca province. He was hiding out in a church, very ill and ready to die from malaria. Wife took a bus over there to see what we can do to help. The padre of the church knew of a medico in the area, he came over and said he could save him, but the medication is very expensive and he needs 2 million pesos (or was it 3 million, can't remember), which I paid because I didn't want to see his mother cry. Never met the man nor talked to him but find him somehow 'simpatico'. After his recovery he disappeared again, never to be heard from and we have a suspicion he joined the paracos (para military).
Last year out of the blue wife got a phone call from a jail, he was arrested and wondered if we could bail him out with 3 million. My answer to the wife was a clear NO, lets leave him there I said, at least he is safe now and can't get in any more mischief, and maybe some day he will be a free man and doesn’t have to hide anymore from the law.
Last we heard of him.
Got carried away here with the pistolero's story.

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