Police commissioner General Oscar Naranjo announced Friday that General Luis Mendieta, rescued in June from twelve years in FARC captivity, will be police attache at the Embassy of Colombia in Spain.
Mendieta was taken prisoner by the FARC in 1998, in an attack on the town of Mitu, southern Colombia.
The police officer was rescued along with two other hostages in “Operation Chameleon,” in which the army posed as guerrillas before attacking the camp where the hostages were being held.
While captive in the jungle Mendieta learned both English and Russian from a fellow hostage. He is now Colombia’s most senior police officer.
The role of police attache will involve fostering cooperation between the Colombian and Spanish police forces.
General Naranjo announced a number of other high-level appointments within the police force.
General Cesar Augusto Pinzon will be the director of the Counternarcotics Police, while General Carlos Mena will be director of the DIJIN judicial police.
Colonel William Rene Salamanca will be Colombia’s police attache to the U.S.
General Flavio Buitrago will go to Washington in the Joint Commission.
