Betancourt, Ingrid

▪ 2009

born Dec. 25, 1961, Bogotá, Colom.

      More than six years after she was kidnapped by Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas, Ingrid Betancourt, a former Colombian senator and presidential candidate, was freed along with 14 other hostages on July 2, 2008, in a daring helicopter rescue operation carried out by the Colombian military. The meticulously planned operation, which followed the successful infiltration of the FARC by military intelligence agents, represented a stunning setback for the rebels, who lost their highest-profile captives in Betancourt and three American defense contractors whom they had held since 2003. Aside from raising further questions over the continued viability of the FARC—a number of whose top leaders had been killed in the preceding months and whose ranks were reportedly declining at a steady pace—the rescue prompted much speculation over Betancourt's future involvement in Colombian politics, including whether she would run for president again in the upcoming 2010 elections.

      Betancourt, who held dual French and Colombian citizenship, spent her formative years in Paris, where her father served for a time as Colombia's ambassador to UNESCO. She studied there at the Institut d'Études Politiques and in 1983 married Fabrice Delloye, a French diplomat. She returned to Colombia in 1989 and ran for Congress five years later, winning a seat in the lower house. Fiercely outspoken against corruption, Betancourt soon became the target of death threats, and she eventually sent her two children to live in New Zealand with Delloye (whom she divorced in 1990). She later formed her own political party—the Green Oxygen Party—and was overwhelmingly elected to the Senate in 1998.

      While campaigning for the presidency in 2002, Betancourt traveled into rebel-held territory in southern Colombia, where she had planned to hold a rally in the town of San Vicente del Caguán. She and her campaign manager, Clara Rojas, were taken hostage at a FARC roadblock on February 23. The FARC released Rojas in early 2008 following negotiations brokered by Venezuela, but despite a subsequent offer by Colombian Pres. Álvaro Uribe to free hundreds of rebel prisoners in exchange for Betancourt's release, she remained in captivity. As fears mounted that Betancourt's health might be failing, the rescue mission was launched. Posing as international aid workers, army soldiers duped the rebels into allowing the 15 hostages to board a helicopter that supposedly was to transfer them to another FARC location. Instead, the aircraft whisked the hostages to freedom.

      News of Betancourt's liberation was greeted jubilantly around the globe. After an emotional reunion with her family at the airport in Bogotá, Betancourt flew to France, where Pres. Nicolas Sarkozy hailed her as “a symbol of hope” and named her a knight of the Legion of Honour at a ceremony held at Élysée Palace. In interviews given after her rescue, Betancourt indicated that while she might resume her political career at some point in the future, the idea of running for the presidency again seemed “very distant” to her and it was “too early to talk of such things.” Of more immediate concern to her, she said, was gaining the freedom of the estimated 750 hostages who remained in FARC captivity.

Sherman Hollar

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▪ Colombian politician

born Dec. 25, 1961, Bogotá, Colom.

      Colombian politician whose long captivity as the hostage of Marxist guerrillas and eventual rescue in 2008 made headlines throughout the world. She served as a senator from 1998 to 2002 and in the latter year ran for president.

      Betancourt, who holds dual French and Colombian citizenship, spent her formative years in Paris, where her father served for a time as Colombia's ambassador to UNESCO. She studied at the Institute for Political Studies (Institut d'Études Politiques) and in 1983 married Fabrice Delloye, a French diplomat. She returned to Colombia in 1989 and ran for Congress five years later, winning a seat in the lower house.

      Fiercely outspoken against corruption, Betancourt soon became the target of death threats, and she eventually sent her two children to live in New Zealand with Delloye (whom she divorced in 1990). She later formed her own political party—the Green Oxygen Party—and was elected to the Senate by an overwhelming majority in 1998. While campaigning for the presidency in 2002, Betancourt traveled into rebel-held territory in southern Colombia, where she planned to hold a rally in the town of San Vicente del Caguán. However, she and her campaign manager, Clara Rojas, were taken hostage by Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia ( FARC) guerrillas at a roadblock on February 23.

      The FARC released Rojas in early 2008 following negotiations brokered by Venezuela, but, despite a subsequent offer by Colombian Pres. Álvaro Uribe to free hundreds of rebel prisoners in exchange for Betancourt's release, she remained in captivity. As fears mounted that Betancourt's health might be failing, a rescue mission was launched on July 2. Posing as international aid workers, army soldiers duped the rebels into allowing the 15 hostages to board a helicopter that supposedly was to transfer them to another FARC location. Instead, the aircraft whisked the hostages to freedom. The meticulously planned operation, which followed the successful infiltration of the FARC by military intelligence agents, represented a stunning setback for the rebels, who lost their highest-profile captives in Betancourt and three American defense contractors whom they had held since 2003.

      News of Betancourt's liberation was greeted jubilantly around the globe. After an emotional reunion with her family at the airport in Bogotá, Betancourt flew to France, where Pres. Nicolas Sarkozy (Sarkozy, Nicolas) hailed her as “a symbol of hope” and named her a knight of the Legion of Honour at a ceremony held at Élysée Palace. She continued to work to free the estimated 750 hostages who remained in FARC captivity.

Sherman Hollar

 

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