A lesson in freedom and faith

During an ELI graduation performance in June, one Colombian student had a special reason for participating. For Miguel Armenta, the Vallenato folk dance was typical of his hometown, El Banco Magdalena, in northern Colombia.

But it represented more than just tradition. For the 35-year-old petroleum engineer, the accordion music also symbolized liberation. In 1994, Armenta was kidnapped by leftist guerrillas and held for 129 days. It was a Vallenato band that greeted him at the airport following his release from captivity.

Miguel Armenta with wife Chechi and children Miguel and Andrea Carolina

Today, Armenta hopes to pursue a doctorate in environmental policy at a North American university. Studying English at ELI is a first step in that direction. But the true reason for his coming to the University of Delaware lies in what happened to him when he was kidnapped almost six years ago.

It started on Friday night, April 30, about 9 pm. Armenta, the engineer in charge of drilling an exploratory oil well in the department of Bolivar in the north of Colombia, was taking a shower. Suddenly, he heard a commotion outside as 50 guerrillas, armed with rifles and wearing army uniforms, entered the installation. Armenta grabbed a towel and ran outside. One guerrilla, about 16 years old, approached him and demanded to know where the guns were. "I'll kill you if you don't tell me," he said, shaking his rifle at him. Fortunately, the leader of the guerrillas intervened. He told Armenta to get dressed. He was taken to a field where, with other workers, he was forced to lie face down, while the attackers starting dynamiting the machinery and setting fire to the installation.

"We need you to go with us," Armenta was told. He and two other engineers drove the company's three all-terrain "camperos" for two hours. About midnight they reached the end of the road, where they were met by other guerrillas. The three got out, mounted horses and were led through the rainforest until, at dawn, they reached a ranch where they were told to sleep. The three lay down on the floor, but they didn't close their eyes. At midday, they were given food--yucca and cheese--and coffee. That night they began a three-day walk through muddy ricefields to a river and a boatride which took them to their first stop in a guerrilla camp in the San Lucas Mountains.

They were to move two more times further into the mountains, staying 10 days to two weeks in each camp, before the guerrilla leader Gilberto made a dramatic announcement. The guerrillas--members of the National Liberation Army--hoped to make a political statement, Gilberto explained. They sought to protest multinational involvement in the Colombian oil industry. As a result, he said, the engineers would be taken to a place where they could be held safely for one or two years. "It was then we realized we were kidnapped," said Armenta. Once again they walked all day, arriving at a big camp in the mountains.

This time when he was offered food, Armenta was so upset he couldn't eat. At the time of his capture, Armenta's wife, Chechi, was more than seven months pregnant with their first child, due in June. Now he realized the time was nearing for the baby's delivery. "All my life I had dreamed of being there when my first child was born," Armenta said. "I felt really bad. It was the worst day for me." Twice Armenta had been told to write a letter to his family. The baby's due date came and went, but he had heard nothing.

Finally, in July, he got an answer. "It was the best moment of my life," Armenta said. "We are good," his wife had written. "Don't forget us. I'm crying for you. I love you." But Chechi had written before the baby's birth. Was the baby all right? He was worried about his wife, too.

He asked the guerrillas for a Bible to read, and he began reading it daily. One evening, about 5:30, Benito, the guerrilla in charge, came up to him. "What does he want now?" Armenta thought. "Hola, Miguel. How are you?" he said. "Qu te importa?" Armenta answered sullenly. The guerrilla only handed him a newspaper, El Universal, from Cartagena, the capital of Bolivar department, where Armenta had been kidnapped. When Armenta opened the paper, he saw his name in bold letters in the headline. "Liberenlo para que conozca su hija" -- Free him so that he may know his daughter -- the headline read. Below it, he stared at three photographs, of himself, his wife and of his newborn child, Andrea Carolina. "Oh my God," Armenta shouted gleefully. "I have a daughter. Thank you, God!"

The news transformed both Armenta's captors and himself. Armenta decided that, no matter what, he had to return to his family in good health. While before he had been argumentative, even violent at times, now he became quiet and submissive. Subsisting on rice and plantain, Armenta had lost about 25 pounds. He decided to eat whatever was offered to him. One day a guerrilla asked him, "Do you want to eat monkey?" He was surprised when Armenta said, "Yes." Of the 20 guerrillas and three engineers in the camp, only the two of them ate the monkey. It lasted two weeks.

Every day, Armenta reread his wife's letter and the newspaper story. "That was my treasure," he said. One day they were told to leave the camp quickly. No sooner had they got out than government forces took over the camp. Ten guerrillas were killed. Armenta was becoming desperate. He saw military helicopters flying overhead. What if the army bombed them?

Finally, one female guerrilla, La Mona, made a suggestion. "You want to be free?" she asked. "Every day, morning and night, read Psalm 91." Armenta opened the Bible and began to read.

"God says, 'I will save those who love me and will protect those who acknowledge me as Lord. When they are in trouble, I will be with them. I will rescue them and honor them.'"

For three days, the engineers passed the Bible around as they each read the passage. On the third day, they were released by their captors.

Three months after his joyous return home, Armenta went back to school to get a master's degree in environmental development. His purpose? To get a safer job which would allow him to spend more time with his family.

For Armenta, coming to the United States is a way of furthering that goal. "I had time to evaluate my life," Armenta said. "I need to think of other people, not only myself." Armenta's captivity and liberation strengthened his faith and gave him a positive outlook. "God is always with you," he said. "I know that, to protect my family, I will find the correct way."

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