A dignified life for children. This is what Fidencio Valencia, the great-uncle of the indigenous minors rescued deep in the jungle of Guaviare, wanted for his nephews, because Behind the ‘miracle’, which is the subject of headlines all over the world, there is a story of pain, ill-treatment and injustice.
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According to the information provided by the family of Magdalena Mucutuy, the mother of the children who lost their lives in the Cessna 206 type plane crash, she was subjected to violence for years in silence at her home. Violence to which her four children aged 13, 9 and 4 and her 11-month-old baby will also be exposed.
According to his uncle, the eldest admitted that his stepfather, Miller Manuel Ranoque, tried to harass him several times.
Fidencio said the Muinane community already knew what had happened at the home of 33-year-old Magdalena, who, months before the plane crash, had initially denied the alleged abuses she had suffered out of fear.
“When they asked him if he had hit him, he denied it. They later told the 13-year-old girl, who said this was not true. That was until I took him to a mountain pass with the women of the family and asked again. There she admitted that Manuel tried to molest her,” she said.
Uncle added that even the girl was considering “joining the guerrilla” due to the difficult situation she was in at home. Being the eldest, he had to take care of his younger siblings several times while his mother was working.
“Magdalena has always been a hard worker and Manuel was in charge of her home, as she spent her time smoking marijuana and not using it. Then the eldest sister looked at her younger siblings. Manuel told her that he would take his mother’s place,” she said.
(Also: Indigenous leaders have made serious complaints about the father of children rescued in the jungle).
Learning of the family’s plight, the same community decided to inflict a potentially fatal punishment on Manuel consisting of smoking a mixture of tobacco and salt.
“I used to tell my sister Fatima that I was taking care of the children. From Bogota I sent them clothes and the things they needed so they could study and be well,” Fidencio added.
Because community chiefs already knew about his violent behavior, Miller Manuel Ranoque decided to “invent threats” to escape.
In April, a month before the plane disappeared, Miller Manuel traveled to Bogota with nine million pesos, supposedly to “round the community.”
Fidencio, who lives in the capital, said he tried to contact him several times so they could talk “about the children’s situation”, but he did not answer the phone. On one of these calls, a woman answered him and said that “Manuel is not at home.”
Uncle did not understand who he was at first, but then Ranoque started posting on Facebook that this woman, so different from Magdalena, was the love of his life. “I think you got the money from him,” he said.
The man even took her into the community, assuming it was his new partner who, according to Fidencio, intensified the fights with Magdalena, who concealed the attacks. “He took a bath at four in the morning so the sisters wouldn’t see him.”
Ranoque once tried to attack her with a machete, so Magdalena’s relatives decided to take her to another community called Berlin to keep her and the children away from the alleged abuse.
(We suggest: How are indigenous children rescued in the Guaviare forest?).
Meanwhile, the subject began to say that the opponents threatened him and wanted to kill him. Thus, he managed to get a public force plane to take him back to Bogotá.
“For them, I’m a target,” Ranoque told the media, adding that the intimidation came from the Carolina Ramírez front.
Once again in the capital, he began to communicate with Magdalena, who was slowly beginning to believe what her former partner had told her. “She began to brainwash her, she no longer believed what the nuns were saying and went away to talk to her.”
Fidencio reported that Ranoque insisted that the woman go to Bogotá. “He started deceiving him, come on, I have a house, I own half of Bogotá, I have money, they will give me a farm, we will live in a mansion,” he said. said uncle.
He added that it was a woman named Martha who eventually convinced Magdalena to travel on a small plane from Leticia. Equal, supposedly this woman was the one who paid two million pesos for the tickets without predicting that the tragedy would come.
On May 1, this plane crashed in the virgin forest between Caquetá and Guaviare, claiming the lives of three people, including Magdalena Mucutuy. Ranoque said the woman survived for four days, but Fidencio said “it was a lie”. Therefore, the only survivors were four minors.
Evaluating Ranoque’s public statements, the Governor of Puerto Zabalo Indians, William Castro, made the following statements in his statement:
MANUEL MILLER RANOQUE, a member of the community and registered with the Ministry of the Interior, has shown to be impulsive and unconscious in his social behavior, often when faced with difficulties in and outside the family and community circle.
Therefore, their ethical and moral responsibilities show that they are not suitable for social coexistence and that they may risk the peace and tranquility of those around them; All according to disciplinary record, domestic violence, presumption of minor sexual abuse, psychoactive substance consumption and public disorder. We reject any statement that concerns us at the regional, national and international level that puts other communities in the region at risk.
This certificate is issued at the request of the interested party and we try to do what is necessary to maintain healthy coexistence and to guarantee the rights of our community.
We hope that any decision regarding the case will be notified to us.
After the incident, the eldest of the children, thinking to protect his younger siblings, decided to take off the clothes from the suitcases and wrap them up and take shelter in the bushes of nature with the three youngest.
Fidencio added that in addition to taking water from some streams, they ate fariña, a cassava-based food, and fruits. Meanwhile, more than 200 people, including public forces and indigenous leaders, launched an intense search.
The plane was found two weeks after the crash, but The children lost a total of 39 days, when their rescue was considered a “miracle”.
Fidencio commented that indigenous communities focus on the spiritual side, with some having a deep connection with Yajé, others with the forest and its “politics”.
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For uncle, the second option was a priority. “I started from the creation of the world. I don’t care if there are tigers, if there are leprechauns, here I go, with God and nothing to see. I had to speak directly to Chiribiteque and I said to Yuruparí and them, ‘if my family falls into this area, give it to me’”.
The spiritual work that changed everything began on Wednesday, June 7, when Fatima said she had dreamed of Magdalena, and Magdalena told her: “Mother, don’t cry anymore, I’m fine now. It was my destiny, I had to go this far. Because of her. This happened to me on the plane.
Fidencio confirmed that “Magdalena has children,” and began telling her niece on Thursday night to return them to her. “I will raise them. I give back that sadness, that pain, to the people who hurt him. Life itself will do it justice.”
The next day, Friday, June 9, the minors were rescued and transferred to the Military Hospital in Bogotá for recovery. They are still there under the surveillance of the state and family.
Although they are much better now, “We still can’t sing,” says Fidencio, as they’re still so impressed. “The girl needs to tell the truth. Sometimes she cries or someone approaches and she’s scared. She’s telling us something,” he said.
While at the health centre, his relatives Fátima and Fidencio seek custody of the minors.
“What I want is a life fit for children. Let them grow up and not become slaves to anyone or be psychologically abused. The parents were given the opportunity and they could not answer. Loving children is not being dependent, fighting, lying, gossiping, being dragged back and forth. To love is to seek a place where they can have their beautiful dreams,” Fidencio concluded.
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AIR JOURNALIST
Source: Exame
