LUIS ALEJANDRO VELASCO: TRUE STORY - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

Luis Alejandro Velasco was a Colombian sailor shipwrecked in 1955, whose story was told by the then investigative journalist Gabriel García Márquez. In his investigations, the future Nobel Prize in Literature discovered that the official version was false, and thus published it. This caused, among other things, the exile of García Márquez.

On February 28 of that year, Luis Alejandro Velasco was returning from the port of Mobile, Alabama (USA), aboard the destroyer ARC Caldas. This Colombian navy vessel had undergone repairs in that port. According to official reports, it encountered bad weather in the Caribbean and eight of its crew fell into the sea.

Photos: The Spectator Archive

Unfortunately, all of Velasco's companions perished at sea, and he was kept adrift on a raft for 10 days. The raft reached Colombian shores and was saved. There was a national hero reception and he was worthy of several recognitions. Also, he made a lot of money on presentations and commercials.

Real story of Luis Alejandro Velasco

Before the tragedy

According to Luis Alejandro Velasco's own account, on February 22, 1955 he was notified that he would return to Colombia. He had been in the port of Mobile, Alabama, for eight months. During that time, they made repairs to the electronic and artillery equipment of the warship ARC Caldas.

In their spare time, Luis commented, they did what sailors do when they are on land: go to the movies with friends and then meet other sailors in a port bar called Joe Palooka. There they used to drink whiskey and sometimes, for fun, they would start fights.

They thought they would have just one whiskey the night they found out about the game, but ended up having five bottles. Knowing that this would be their last night in that port, they had a great farewell party. To close the night, Luis Alejandro remembers that he and his group started a big fight at the bar.

At three in the morning on the 24th, the Caldas left the port of Mobile for Cartagena. All the crew were happy to return home, and according to Velasco's account, they all brought gifts for their relatives.

The tragedy

In his statements, Luis Alejandro Velasco said that the trip was perfectly calm during the days after the departure. He also remembers that all the guards were replaced without any news. According to the ship's reports, at dawn on February 26, the waters of the Caribbean Sea would already be navigating.

At six o'clock in the morning that day, the destroyer began to shake violently because of a strong surf. Velasco recalls that the situation remained unchanged throughout the day. Except for the jolts, it was a normal ride.

According to the navigation log, the Caldas began to move violently around 10:00 p.m. on the 27th. Two hours later, the order was received through the loudspeakers to mobilize all the personnel to the port side (side left of the ship).

In marine terms, that order meant that the ship was leaning dangerously to the opposite side (starboard). For that reason, the crew had to compensate by making weight on the left side. Later, Luis Alberto Velasco commented that this state of tension continued throughout the following day.

As it became known later, the origin of this instability was in a load of electrical appliances that the ship carried in the bow (front part of the ship). Indeed, Velasco and seven crew members were on guard in that area when a large wave threw them into the water along with the cargo.

The shipwreck

After being thrown into the sea, Luis swam to an inflatable raft that had also fallen from the ship and was able to get on it. He spotted the rest of his companions and called them to swim to where he was. None could achieve it and Luis witnessed how they were sinking in the waters of the Caribbean Sea.

The Caldas continued with the rest of the crew and was able to reach the port of Cartagena two hours after the tragedy occurred. The captain of the ship reported that the crew fell into the sea due to a storm that affected them on their return trip. Immediately, search parties were organized that tried to locate them, without success.

After 4 days of searching, Luis Alejandro Velasco and the rest of his companions were officially declared dead. Meanwhile, Velasco was adrift on a raft without food or water. Under these conditions, it managed to survive in the sea until the ocean currents carried the raft to Colombian shores.

After being rescued, he was taken to a hospital and recovered. The government of Rojas Pinillas (president of Colombia to date) declared him a national hero. Then, Luis Alejandro Velasco enjoyed a period as a celebrity. The chronicles say that he became rich because of the commercial advertisements he made and remained at the top of the public news.

The discovery

Later, Velasco approached the offices of a very popular Colombian newspaper, and offered to sell them the story of his adventure at sea. The newspaper accepted and commissioned Gabriel García Márquez, one of its journalists, to work on the story.

By that date, García Márquez was about 27 years old and was starting out as a journalist. So, he scheduled a series of meetings over 20 days in which he endeavored to ask tricky questions to see if there were any contradictions in the story.

When asked to describe the storm that hit them, Velasco replied that there was no storm that day. From that moment on, García Márquez was suspicious and began to carry out other parallel investigations.

As a result of these investigations, it was discovered that there was indeed no storm that day. It was also found that the tragedy had been triggered by the instability of the ship caused by a shipment of electrical appliances that was smuggled and placed in an area of ​​the ship that was not suitable.

The repercussions

All this information came to light for 14 consecutive days in the same number of deliveries, and public opinion reacted very badly when they learned about it. Also, citizens did not like to find out about certain activities carried out by the government. In retaliation, Rojas Pinilla closed the newspaper, and García Márquez had to go into exile in Paris.

As for Luis Alejandro Velasco, he was publicly discredited. His fame of public reference disappeared overnight, as well as his good financial situation. On August 2, 2000, he died in Bogotá at the age of 66, a victim of lung cancer.

References

1. Alarcón Núñez, O. (2015, February 27). Sixty years of the tragedy of the sailor Velasco. Taken from elespectador.com.
2. Ovejero, J. (2015, April 02). The extraordinary story of a common man. Taken from elpais.com.
3. Biography and lives. (s / f). Story of a castaway. Taken from biografiasyvidas.com.
4. García Márquez, G. (2014). Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
5. Well, J. (2013, August 13). Story of a castaway. An interview by Gabriel García Márquez. Taken from leer-abierta.com.
6. Pelayo, R. (2009). Gabriel García Márquez: A Biography. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group.