‘Hijacking of Flight 601’: Does the Popular Revolutionary Front exist or was it invented in the series?

The Netflix series “Hijacking of Flight 601”, which premiered just a few days ago, immerses us in a story about a hijacking that seems to come out of a suspense novel. However, it is based on real events.

ELN and the “Hijacking of Flight 601”: The reality behind the fiction of the Netflix series

The plot revolves around two armed rebels who hijack and threaten to blow up Flight 601, operated by Sociedad Aeronáutica de Medellín (SAM), with more than 80 passengers in 1973.

There are many doubts about what things reflected in its 6 chapters are true or not and one of the most commented on social networks is whether the People’s Revolutionary Front is an organization that exists or existed and here we tell you.

In the plot, the two hijackers of the plane, Eusebio Borja and Francisco Solano López, are the ones who lead the attack and when the plane takes off they show that they are armed and identify themselves as members of the Popular Revolutionary Front. Although this organization is fictitious, it turns out that the two actually claimed to be part of the National Liberation Army of Colombia.

According to “CNN”, the National Liberation Army (ELN) is a left-wing guerrilla group active in Colombia since 1964, and as of 2021, Herlinto Chamorro, known by the alias “Antonio García”, was named as its leader. It is the last armed group of its type still active in Colombia after the peace agreement between the government and the FARC in 2016.

The ELN was founded with the aim of combating social and economic inequality in Colombia and establishing a more just and equal political system. The organization has engaged in a range of illegal activities, including kidnapping, extortion, drug trafficking and illegal mining, to finance its operations.

Why did the kidnappers come to Aruba?

Another specific question is why the hijackers decided to stop in Aruba and, in both fiction and reality, the hijacking was headed from Panama to Venezuela when it diverted to that island. Therefore, the hijacking was not directly related to the area in question, as the hijacking was headed from Bogotá to Medellin and was diverted to Aruba.

Aruba is a small Caribbean island more than a thousand kilometers from Pereira, where the hijackers took the plane, holding the passengers and crew hostage while they negotiated with Colombian authorities.

In 1973, the year of the royal abduction, Aruba was part of the Netherlands Antilles. During this time, there was a significant debate about the political status of Aruba within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, so when the airship entered the territory it was difficult to make decisions about what to do, which ultimately favored the hijackers. who after a few hours left the place.

Did you already know these curiosities about the “Hijacking of Flight 601”? Tell us in the comments.

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