Behind the story - A guest at the palace: What Colombia's President Petro has over Chancellor Scholz
Making-of - that's the name of our new format on stern.de. We want to give you a personal look behind the scenes, tell you about our everyday journalistic life, what we experience during research and what moves us in the editorial office. We start with a short series in which we look back on our moments of 2023.
It was the miracle of the year: after a plane crash in the Amazon, four indigenous children survived alone in the Colombian jungle for 40 days.
Two weeks later, President Gustavo Petro invited them to his residence in the capital Bogotá. He awarded medals to the heroes of the rescue, to soldiers, search parties, shamans - and, curiously, stern was there.
And this is how it happened: A few days earlier, we had interviewed the commander of the historic rescue mission, General Pedro Sánchez. As the sun was already setting that Sunday afternoon, our photographer Jonas Wresch took some portraits right at the beginning. The general really liked them. The steely gaze. The sharp edges. A national hero in uniform.
Wresch is someone who can create a great portrait on the spur of the moment. The general liked it so much that he wanted the German photographer's picture as his official profile photo.
From then on, he talked to us for hours about every detail of the search for the missing children, about his military maneuvers, his sophisticated tactics, but also about his despair, his prayers and finally: the exuberant jubilation, his tears of relief.
In the days that followed, we were also able to interview his operational commanders at length, as well as other soldiers in the barracks. And the father of the rescued children and their uncle and aunt and grandparents and the shaman and the indigenous rescuers - at some point the stern became something like a part of the family.
Something you don't want to be as a journalist. Close to it - yes. Part of the family - no.
We didn't owe everything to this one photo, but a lot - and probably also access to the National Palace. President Petro gave a remarkable speech that day in the courtyard of his residence. He delivered it off the cuff, full of polished sentences, full of poetry. He sounded like a national poet, like Gabriel García Márquez.
The president sounded like a national poet - and so very different from Joe Biden or Olaf Scholz
I was standing just a few meters away and imagined Joe Biden at such a moment - and quickly let it go. Petro used the speech to tell the world what a big role the indigenous trackers had played in saving the children - and what an important role they could play in preserving the Amazon and saving the climate and the survival of the planet. He sounded like a visionary. I imagined Olaf Scholz at such a moment - and quickly put that to rest too.
Then Petro spoke of the magic and spirits that helped in the search, he spoke of spirituality in this very rational world and that even soldiers had followed the clues of the indigenous forest spirits in the jungle. He sounded like a shaman.
I thought of Olaf Scholz and Joe Biden at the same time and wondered why politicians always have to be so boring.
From reporter to "friend of the general"
The subsequent encounters in the presidential palace were moving. General Sánchez somewhat effusively introduced us to his wife as his German friends. Officers embraced indigenous people. Ministers hugged peasant boys. Soldiers and shamans remembered how they had saved the children together. Former enemies in this war-torn country lay in each other's arms.
And for a brief moment in this difficult year, one could have the impression: All will be well with this world.
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- The Amazon, a vast jungle in South America, has been the site of numerous environmental conservation efforts due to its significant role in global climate regulation.
- Latin America, specifically Colombia, has been home to various indigenous communities who have been crucial in preserving the biodiversity of the Amazon and its surrounding regions.
- In a remarkable event, four indigenous children, who had survived alone in the Colombian jungle for 40 days following a plane crash, were honored by President Gustavo Petro at the National Palace in Bogotá.
- Pedro Sanchez, a commander of the historic rescue mission in Colombia, had shared his experiences and tactics during an interview with stern magazine, leading to a close relationship between him and the German journalist, Jonas Wresch.
- According to President Petro, the role of indigenous trackers was integral in saving the children and preserving the Amazon, emphasizing their importance in combating climate change and preserving the planet's survival, a perspective that might differ from that of European leaders such as Joe Biden and Olaf Scholz.
Source: www.stern.de
