Held Hostage in the Jungle: The Ruthless FARC Rebels Still Terrorizing Colombia

In the heart of the jungle, every second counts—CIA operatives storm a FARC hideout to rescue hostages before it's too late

FARC was supposed to be history. After decades of bombing, assassinations, and kidnappings, the guerrilla group finally struck a peace deal with the Colombian government in 2016. Thousands of fighters handed over their weapons, and for the first time in a long while, people thought the violence might finally be over.

But some things don’t go away that easily. While most of FARC disbanded, a breakaway faction refused to play along. Instead, they went right back to what they knew best—drug trafficking, extortion, and, worst of all, kidnapping. Civilians, soldiers, even foreigners—no one is off-limits. Just last week, this rogue group snatched 29 Colombian soldiers in the Cauca region. The government is scrambling to get them back, but if the past is any indication, that’s easier said than done.

     FARC has always used hostage-taking as a weapon. Back in the 2000s, they made international headlines for holding hundreds of people captive, including American defense contractors Thomas Howes, Keith Stansell, and Marc Gonsalves. Their plane went down in the jungle during a surveillance mission, and they spent five long years as prisoners, chained like animals and paraded in propaganda videos. Then there was Ingrid Betancourt, a Colombian presidential candidate kidnapped while campaigning. She spent six years in the jungle, enduring disease, malnutrition, and psychological torture.

     And FARC didn’t stop at Colombia’s borders. Take the case of Cecilio Juan Padron, a Cuban-American businessman kidnapped in Panama and handed over to FARC by corrupt Panamanian cops. His abduction showed just how far the group’s reach extended. At one point, the U.S. estimated that FARC was holding over 700 hostages. Their message was clear: no one was safe.

     That’s exactly the kind of nightmare the CIA must face in Silent Heroes, a pulse-pounding spy thriller that drops readers into the heart of the Colombian jungle. When a rogue FARC faction abducts six Americans—doctors, teachers, and aid workers—CIA spymaster Corey Pearson and his elite team are called in for a high-stakes rescue mission. But finding hostages in the jungle is like searching for a ghost. Every move could trigger an ambush, and the longer they wait, the closer the captives get to disappearing forever.

     In both spy thrillers and in real life, the jungle isn’t just a setting—it’s a battlefield. FARC splinter groups know the terrain better than anyone, using it to their advantage with booby traps, secret camps, and informants planted in local villages. These breakaway rebels are even more ruthless than their predecessors. Unlike the original FARC, which at least had political ambitions, these dissidents are nothing more than criminals hiding behind a cause. Their kidnappings are about power, money, and revenge.

     Back in 2012, FARC’s leaders promised they would stop abducting people for ransom, a move that paved the way for the peace talks. And for a while, kidnappings dropped. But today, the dissident factions are reviving the old tactics, proving that peace was never going to be as simple as a handshake.

     In Silent Heroes, Corey Pearson and his CIA team aren’t just fighting to save hostages—they’re battling against an enemy that thrives in the shadows, one that has spent decades perfecting the art of survival.

     Whether in fiction or real life, one thing is clear: the threat is far from over. While most of the world has moved on from the horrors of FARC, those living in the jungles of Colombia know better. The fight isn’t finished. It just has a new face.

 

Robert Morton is a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO) and an accomplished author. He writes the Corey Pearson- CIA Spymaster Short Story, blending his knowledge of real-life intelligence operations with gripping fictional storytelling. His work offers readers an insider’s glimpse into the world of espionage, inspired by the complexities and high-stakes realities of the intelligence community.