Original subtitles

GEN. JOSÉ HILARIO LÓPEZ MILITARY QUARTERS THIRD DIVISION

Quickly! Recruits, on your feet! In front of your bunks!

Sandals on! Quickly!

Sandals on, recruits! In front of your bunks, quickly!

Sandals on! Put on your sandals! Quickly!

- Recruits! Quickly! - Company, attention!

Don't move, recruit!

Company, good morning!

- Good morning! - I can't hear you! Hands on necks!

- Quickly! - Quickly!

Down and up! One!

- Yes, Sergeant! - Two.

- Yes, Sergeant! - Three.

- As ordered! - Four.

- As ordered, Sergeant! - Five.

- Yes, Sergeant! - Quickly!

What is this doing down here? Look at that! Put that aside.

Go! Line up, line up!

Put on your boots, quickly.

Tie them, recruit.

Put on your cap.

- Where is it? - Put on your pack! Quickly! Your pack!

Head out by platoon!

Head out!

Quickly, come on, man!

- Quickly, come on! - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4...

Out! Out!

Every time we go up, the outlook gets complicated

and everything we've known before is left in the background.

EL PLATEADO VILLAGE ARGELIA, CAUCA

Now I understand earlier conversations,

like the one with the Monsignor, who told me

about an evil much greater than what we saw in Buenaventura at the time.

We've been advancing, pursuing this great leviathan,

this demon that's getting bigger all the time,

and now we're in a much worse situation.

The news of the day is about the crisis in El Plateado,

in rural Argelia, Cauca.

A riot left 29 police kidnapped.

The organization threatened the locals

with eviction from their homes and the closing of shops

if they didn't take action against the military.

They also dressed as civilians to attack the soldiers.

Two Titan army vehicles were set on fire.

The trigger was the damage we did when we took the property.

We dismantled 90% of the organization.

They took advantage and sent out the false message

that the government, through the National Police,

was going to initiate the forced eradication of 30,000 hectares.

The population believed that, in fact,

they were going to destroy what little their peasants have.

That's what motivated them to come out.

In order to avoid the use of deadly force as a last resort,

I retreated. I can't...

This is a scale model

of a geographic area in Cauca called Micay Canyon.

Micay Canyon has about 30,000 hectares planted with coca.

What's the importance of this village for the armed groups?

This is where the drug cartels come in,

the Mexican cartels,

and they meet here with the armed groups

about all the coca production that goes on in Micay Canyon.

It's an economy that allows

the establishment of the entire crop all along Micay Canyon,

areas for the production of coca paste,

labs for cocaine hydrochloride,

and when the product is ready, by river to the sea.

What these criminal organizations did was

make the farmers dependent on the cultivation of coca leaves.

They enslaved them.

And that's why this region is

so strong in terms of production.

And that's why there are now three organizations fighting each other

for control of El Plateado.

Quick, take off the right boot. 20, 19, 18, 17, 16,

15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10. You're not gonna make it.

Lift it up.

Answer.

I remind you that your boots have a way to be laced up.

The laces go from bottom to top.

This is so the combatant's boot can be removed in a difficult situation.

Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two. Recruits.

At ease.

Attention.

- How many men are under your command? - 20,000.

And about 12,000 on operations.

Each operation that allowed us to take each hill

was a unique time for each soldier.

I can't give up, nor will my men give up,

because Micay Canyon has demanded a lot of effort.

Soldier.

We're going to place a military bridge between El Plateado and the property.

A bridge 20 meters long with a load capacity of 50 tons.

Where is the helper?

This truck right here, how far is it going?

- Up to the bridge? - Look.

- Special return, General. - There goes Rojas.

This vehicle is the one that goes to install the military bridge.

It's a 24.46-meter Acrow bridge, General.

Here, General, we have all the necessary replacement parts.

All the technicians are doing maintenance

in order to be able to do maintenance in the field.

How are we doing? Are we ready?

- Yes. - Ready for El Plateado?

- Yes. - Come on, let's go all-out.

Operation Perseus is the manifestation of our commitment to Colombia.

The guerrillas destroy, and we come to rebuild.

They destroy a bridge and we rebuild the bridge.

Who's ready for combat? Raise your hand.

I am, General!

Very good. Drop the pliers, brother,

drop the wrench,

and fight, brother. The bridge is being built.

For me, and this is my opinion,

I think General Mejia is a very demanding commander.

Why? Because he's clear on one thing.

The ultimate goal of everything he does is so that the personnel deployed,

all the infantry deployed in the field,

come back alive, that they're okay, that they're safe.

Buttons. Quickly, come on.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.

He couldn't do it. Back to the flag. Again, recruit!

20, 19, 15...

- Quickly. - ...14, 13,

ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one!

- Lift the plate. - Recruits, quickly!

- As you ordered, Sergeant. - Quickly, fix that shirt collar.

Raise the pitcher, recruit.

You can't do it. Do it again.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two...

- Answer, come on. - As ordered, Sergeant!

When can we give you secure coverage

with the vehicles up to the bridge?

- They've already brought the bridge. - No, today?

What could suddenly slow down our movement?

Ideally, the observer will arrive first.

And where the engineers are assembling the bridge

to replace the one they blew up, will we be harassed at all?

- Is it dangerous? - It's critical.

We could be attacked with drones.

We had four attacks today.

And there's also an imminent danger of minefields.

Based on what you're telling me, we're in a total war scenario.

Conflict. Really intense conflict.

Any special advice for my trip, my next mission?

Yeah, wear a vest and make sure your helmet fits well.

Guys, do me a favor.

They just woke me up, there are dead and wounded soldiers.

Tell them that there are dead soldiers a few kilometers down from Balboa.

Requesting assistance from headquarters.

I'm reporting now.

During this trip, I've felt death very close by,

as a tangible possibility, more than real.

But until you see the corpses,

until you see the coffins of these soldiers in front of you,

you don't quite believe it.

Children, your father is resting, he is with God,

but the strength he gave to us, the three of us remaining...

We have to move forward. He will be watching over us.

His children should be very proud of what their father did.

Have they removed the shrapnel yet?

- Yes. - All of it?

- The stuff in his face is left. - They didn't remove it?

Those of us who wear this uniform live with a harsh reality.

And I have dedicated soldiers, despite their injuries,

waiting to heal in order to continue fighting for El Plateado.

OFFENSIVE OF THE THIRD DIVISION ARGELIA, CAUCA

Lift your shirt!

We have that one!

Run, run!

Come on!

We're not going to leave.

If the Earth trembles, the cataclysm echoes.

- Let our enemies get it straight. - Very straight.

Colonel Díaz, commander of the Fourth Rapid Deployment Force.

- Everything okay? - Yes, thank you.

At your command, General. Pelayo.

Around 7:25, we were attacked by four drones.

At the time of the attacks, all four were stopped.

We've been planning for days to enter the area of operations,

but it's being postponed.

There's no calm moment, no optimal window for entry.

So here we are. The days go by and we wait for a moment that never comes.

It's not one, but four. Then we already have a swarm.

Their software allows them to send up all four

and move them with a single operator. Not just anyone can do that.

It means they've brought in people, possibly...

- Foreigners. - ...foreigners,

who may be helping them operate these kinds of systems.

This war that's coming to us now is a war of precision.

Since they're embedded in the population, we need to have very precise weapons

to avoid collateral damage

to the people they use as a shield.

One guy, from a house, sends out a drone,

throws ten, 15 grenades at us and injures some number of our men,

and is completely protected in a place where we can't attack.

After several days of waiting, we leave for El Plateado.

A very tricky area.

Normally, you're used to facing one or two dangers.

Here they're all together.

We're going to run out of time.

- Good morning. - Why aren't they starting?

We're in a briefing.

We're going to enter from south to north. No-fly zone.

It'll be from El Plateado to November, November Echo,

taking into account the information we have,

that we have long-range weapons that can damage aircraft.

- And how was it for the owl? - They shot at the helicopter.

They shot at the helicopter?

The time has come, we're leaving.

Yes, we have a window of good weather

and we have all the cargo ready. We're leaving.

I don't know how many days we're going to be there

or if we'll be able to talk there, whether the coverage is good or not, okay?

If no one calls you, it means everything's fine.

I've always got it.

Kisses. I love you.

A smell you never forget.

Being in that Black Hawk smells familiar,

I've been here many times.

A bunch of sweaty people going off on an operation.

Food in boxes.

Live chickens.

Gun grease.

That characteristic smell they say smells like fear.

But war smells different.

Like a corpse.

It smells like fucking shit.

I always try not to think about...

I eliminate negative thoughts from my head.

Sometimes a thought may come to you of some misfortune that might befall you.

It's inevitable.

The brain has no pity.

It's pure neuroscience.

POPAYÁN MILITARY QUARTERS

BRIDGE - EL PLATEADO ADVANCE POST "EL PEPINAL"

What worries me most about this area, frankly,

are the random attacks, especially with new technology.

We're going to be with the soldiers in the area of operations

and we'll be targets just like them.

We must not leave the path for anything.

Any place off the path might be mined.

We watch where the person in front steps and we don't deviate.

Whatever we see, we don't touch anything.

Some eye-catching object... Don't touch anything.

It could be an improvised explosive device.

As soon as you put a foot on the ground, you're in danger.

A mine is a silent enemy,

until someone steps on it.

The mines are in no hurry.

They're very unfair.

Five or six people might pass by it, the seventh detonates it.

That's why they say the mine has your name on it.

Pure coca.

- It's all coca? - Yes.

All that green is coca.

This is a coca leaf. Look. Look at it.

- For chewing. - This is coca.

All of it is pure coca plant. All of it.

All of Micay Canyon is like this. All of it. This is no exception.

This is the origin of everything,

in one harmless plant

that produces leaves all year round and throughout its life.

How many people have died because of this plant, directly or indirectly?

Millions.

Its natural beauty and its significance

seem unbelievable.

- Yes, the canyon is nice like this. - This is a paradise.

Setting aside its consequences, it's a paradise.

What's that?

What's all this for?

For building the base.

- For what? - Building the base.

- What did he say? - Building the base.

- Just like that? - Just like that.

It goes from chemical to chemical, mixing,

until the coca paste develops,

which is the first thing taken to the crystallizers,

which is where the powdered cocaine we all know is made.

But it strikes me that this isn't hidden.

- It's in the middle of a road. - With the army here.

- And the plant... - And the plant right next door.

All of Micay Canyon and many other areas in Colombia are full of coca.

And people live off this, humble people, farmers,

worried about earning 1,000 pesos

to feed their children.

- Here you can see how it comes out. - What is that?

The chemicals extract the alkaloid to separate it

and here it's crystallizing a bit.

Okay. Let get moving.

INTERMEDIATE TRANSITION BASE EL PEPINAL

FIRST OFFENSIVE LINE OF THE THIRD DIVISION CAUCA VALLEY

Úsuga, you cover this area below Cambuche de Cabrales.

- Cantero. - Tamayo.

We have to be aware that we're in a tricky area because of the enemy,

since we've got enemies 360 degrees around our position.

Any situation,

any development during the operation,

inform me.

The first line is the old-fashioned way here.

The enemy is close by.

You can practically see them, touch them, smell them.

And they listen to us, they hear us, they smell us... they see us.

To the rear. Which one's the most serious?

- This one. - Ready. What about the other two?

Ready, kid. Let's go.

Shrapnel where?

Stay calm. Sit down.

Ready. Take it easy. The gun?

- I cleaned him up. - Just this side?

Two more vehicles are coming. Let's take them up. Which is most serious?

What about the other two?

- Go get your first aid kit. - Go.

Arm up. Let's go.

We've had 17 drone strikes with a swarm of three drones in the air.

The troops are reporting three wounded soldiers.

Yes, we have to evacuate them, although their injuries aren't serious.

But we have to evacuate them.

It's time for us to reassess.

What is the problem?

The drones are flying too high.

Yes, General. The equipment is failing us

because the drones fly too high, at 1,000 or 1,200 meters,

and Cerberus doesn't protect us at altitude.

They're still attacking us right now.

I've heard again here

what I've heard many times in conflict zones.

Because of the Doppler effect, the explosions that reach you,

if you can hear them, the fighting isn't far away.

Before, in war, you'd hear explosions and gunfire. Near, far...

The famous "burst."

Now the thing that strikes fear is the buzzing.

It's the new war that's upon us.

- One attack, two grenades. - There's no other option.

Do the soldiers already have cover now?

Colonel, the drone is heading north,

approximately three kilometers,

on high ground, as you can see, it's in the courtyard of a residence.

We can see the drone operator there who's attacking us now.

We took two grenades to Charlie, two grenades to OSNI.

- Question. Is it a lawful military target? - Yes, Colonel.

Ready, gentlemen.

Today we have a tactical assignment

ordered by the platoon commander,

at an angular distance of 230 degrees and 500 meters.

From the situation room, intelligence reports arrive all the time

that there are swarms of drones attacking the area every day.

Today, the area is very tense.

We're going to set up an observation post and listen.

The aim is to get the most information about the combat area.

That hum of the flying device, the approaching drone,

it's a bad sound.

Deep and evil, like an evil machine.

They've devised a very simple system,

a hook with a 60-millimeter grenade hanging from a wire.

And when they get in position, they can see it with a camera,

they make the drone rock until it's released. Right away.

And the grenade, which has an inertia fuse,

detonates on impact.

Just like that.

A few meters away is the town center of El Plateado.

- You can see it. - We need more tactical discipline,

because there may be militia on lookout for troop movements.

If it's reached and they send out patrols to alert the enemy,

we might have an ambush.

You might think that the armed groups

are people without military training, people who aren't trained,

but you'd be wrong.

I've experienced it before in other countries.

They are fighters who have spent decades living exclusively in this way.

They know the area, they know the weapons,

they know the movements of the army,

and they're totally willing to keep fighting forever.

Now he's on reconnaissance.

Possibly for explosive devices.

Let's go.

Look, over here.

Nice, that's how it's done, doggie.

Yes, but I have to go slowly because I can't fall into minefields.

I have to check carefully.

I can't get there as soon as I wanted

because it might be mined.

I can't go through the most obvious areas.

Yes, General. Of course.

Today, I'll try to do my best to be able to come up with an estimate.

Hopefully I can get there today, but if not, we'll link up tomorrow.

Every mission they have,

there's a good chance they won't return.

It's hard to watch. I remember when we were in Afghanistan,

when there was the attack at Abbey Gate, at the gate,

you see the mess in the hospital when they arrive, the desperation,

and you think, "They're not going home."

And you see that they were just like you.

It's a feeling...

It's hard to describe. It's not fear or shock or...

You get stuck thinking about what you're seeing, like watching a movie.

This is tricky.

But with God's help, anything is possible.

- You have two daughters? - A daughter and a son.

The girl is 19 years old.

And now she's participating

- in Miss Universe in Quindío. - Miss Universe?

And the boy is 14 and works with my brother.

We have a motorcycle garage.

So he's working with my brother now.

What would you say if one day your son says,

"Dad, I want to take the military path, go into the military"?

- Would you like that? - Yes.

In the balance of your life...

- Yes. - ...is what the army's given you

- more positive than negative? - Yeah. And I've learned a lot from dogs.

We humans, if we were more like animals,

we'd be better humans.

- How is everything over there? - Good.

- What about the tiger? - He has a bad cough.

I gave him oil with lemon and a little salt.

Let's get to work, girl. Let's get the explosives.

I also want you to play with me when you come.

I miss you very, very much.

- Sweet girl. - I'm gonna give you lots of kisses.

I'm following the coordinates...

0228...

022837.68

against 771228.25,

771228.25.

- 0228... - 40.

Ready.

I'm beat.

It all adds up.

But it's also kind of magnetic.

I don't want it to end just yet.

I want to go on a little longer, to see how far we get.

Knowing I don't have everything myself to make it work out right.

- Contact, Danube 2. - Copy that, Danube.

- On your command. - Fire!

I'm showing up with no fanfare.

General, we're continuing

to reorganize the operation

and the takeover until we get to 100 percent.

We're at 40 percent now, General.

Now we're with the armored vehicles in the town center

and the BAFUR troops inside El Plateado,

because we are there neutralizing explosives at Charlie house.

We already have control of Charlie.

They got as far as that with no problem.

We already have two vehicles in the El Plateado town center,

we have two vehicles securing the rear with no problem.

The intention is for the four vehicles to take us up here,

- the upper part... - Up to the Terpel sector?

Exactly. To take control of the landfill and then to support the ranch.

We're going to pass through where the car is.

They threw gasoline into it?

Yes, into the car.

In fact, they broke the windows,

tossed gasoline inside and set us on fire.

There's talking about it and there's living it.

- You must've had it rough. - Really rough.

After decades of war, the army has taken El Plateado.

It seems like a stable situation, but it's far from it.

EL PLATEADO VILLAGE ARGELIA, CAUCA

The personnel are checking around, let's get out of the vehicles, please.

Nothing special at your nine.

Perfect.

Delta, can we get the personnel down, please?

Personnel getting out.

The feeling I have is one of tense calm.

It seems like nothing is happening, but I've experienced this before.

There's restlessness. We are not well-received by everyone.

Good morning.

El Plateado is apparently quiet, isn't it?

Walking around here set off all my alarms.

Where could there be a hidden explosive?

Where's there a good angle from which a sniper to shoot you?

Where are your people, your teammates?

You automatically start applying everything you've learned in your life.

It doesn't mean I'm going to come.

But if I do come, will they not help me?

Okay, I'm going now.

If I get closer, will I put them in danger? Yes?

- Obviously. - Oh, no. Bye. Blessings.

Let's go.

What do you say, Pelayo?

Despite the way it looks, I see you're on alert.

Yeah. This isn't a place to be at ease or too trusting.

Trust kills. You can't trust anyone here.

We've spent too much time here. We'd better get going.

- We're going in. - It's going well.

I don't know how many operations I've carried out

with organized crime groups, drug trafficking, etc.

I don't have an exact number.

But this is different.

This has been a way of life for lots of people for decades.

And above all, in the short term, I don't see an end to all this.

Likewise, I see that we are short on distribution of information.

Let's plaster it massively with posters,

with billboards, tell them the investment, tell them what we're doing,

how many people are being helped.

Spreading the word about what we're doing is crucial.

I also ask this favor,

how can we raise the money we're short

to fix the water treatment plant at the Miguel Zapata school,

which was destroyed by bombs from drones?

And on the part of the Housing Ministry, see if they can at least

fix the homes damaged by the motorized pump.

Just that. They're very small things

and they can be fixed with just a little bit of resources.

That's all, Juliana.

If the peasants had a strong economy and didn't need money to eat,

they wouldn't be mixed up in all this.

It's easy to buy someone who needs to eat.

"If you don't do what I want, I'll kill you."

Just like that.

I've always intended this path as a learning experience of some kind.

You get the feeling that you'll never fully understand this.

It's like a litany. A story without end.

BUENAVENTURA COLOMBIAN PACIFIC

Now that I'm back in Buenaventura, where my journey began, I see it

through a different prism, with a different way of seeing.

All these people who have had such a hard time,

who have experienced so much violence first-hand,

their greatest feat is the act of rebellion.

To face that violence, face that that reality, with joy.

These are my people, the barbers.

Perhaps this journey has given me more doubts than I used to have.

We have a lot of business left to complete.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

pray for us sinners, now and in the hour...

It's chaos.

It has tentacles in politics.

It has tentacles in business.

And if we go further, we find more tentacles everywhere.

We have a seven-headed monster.

And they use every kind of strategy.

Killing, for example. The more they kill, the more power they have.

...now and always, forever and ever, amen.

I'm trying to follow this journey from my country to the origin of everything,

and right now I think I'll never get to the origin of anything.

- It gets more and more difficult. - I've spent eight years trying to find

the tail of the rat, but I haven't been able to.

If the objective of this trip was to clear up doubts that I had,

it's not an objective that has been fulfilled.

It's left to us to face each other, sit face-to-face,

to look into the eyes of the greatest devil who lives here,

the Gulf Clan.

An armed group that dominates

70 percent of the entire illicit economy in the country.

We'll have to return to the area of operations.

The cleanup has just begun. Death to all.

The Gaitanist Self-Defense of Colombia,

given that the population does not want to heed our call,

we are obliged to act by force, the hard way.

We are not responsible if children, mothers, fathers,

husbands or wives fall in the crossfire.

We will kill every motherfucker who fucks around in the streets.

The community did not want the easy way. It gets the hard way.