Ex-hostage aims to disarm rebels; some
see only her ambition
AFP Nov 30, 08 6:04 PM CST
(Newser)
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Former FARC hostage Ingrid Betancourt returned to Colombia yesterday to kick off a tour aimed at getting the rebels to disarm, AFP reports. "I am so very happy to be here," said Betancourt, who has received death threats from FARC and will keep her Colombia visit brief. She met with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and is slated to meet Brazil's president on Friday.
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Ex-hostage thanks pontiff for support during 7-year captivity
Reuters Sep 1, 08 2:54 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Ingrid Betancourt realized her dreams today when she met privately with Pope Benedict, Reuters reports. The freed French-Colombian hostage says she was overcome with emotion after hearing the pope appeal for her release on the radio during her 7 years in captivity. The 46-year-old Catholic had never read the Bible—"a dusty old book"—before being abducted, but it is now her "instruction manual for happiness."
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Cities across the globe show support for captives
AFP Jul 20, 08 6:50 PM CDT
(Newser)
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More than a million people marched in Bogota, Columbia and other world capitals today demanding the freedom of captives held hostage by leftist rebels in the Columbian jungle, AFP reports. Recently liberated captive Ingrid Betancourt led chants of "No More hostages" in Paris on Columbia's independence day, as famous musicians from across the globe staged a concert there.
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Death was her 'constant companion'
in 6-year ordeal
CNN Jul 10, 08 6:09 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Freed hostage Ingrid Betancourt lived in "soul hell" for years in captivity under a constant threat of death, she said in a riveting interview on CNN's Larry King Live . "I lived for nearly seven years with the awareness that death was my everyday companion," she said. "It was hell. It was hell for the body, it was hell for the soul, it was hell for the mind."
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Lecompte says love might have died in 6-year internment
Associated Press Jul 9, 08 2:03 PM CDT
(AP)
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The husband of rescued Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt says their marriage may be over. In an interview with the Bogota newspaper El Tiempo, Juan Carlos Lecompte acknowledges what many noted when the two reunited in front of TV cameras after last week's rescue—Betancourt greeted him coldly.
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Abductees, rescuers become hot properties for book, movie deals
Variety Jul 8, 08 6:42 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Film projects revolving around last week’s rescue of 15 FARC prisoners are already taking shape, Variety reports. Rumors abound about rights deals and production agreements. Although not everyone is convinced that the bloodless rescue is dramatic enough material for a box office blockbuster, "it's as memorable as Entebbe, the Hindenburg disaster, or other huge events that stay with us," one producer says.
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Hostages, chained together, also hostile
CNN Jul 7, 08 12:50 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Ingrid Betancourt and the other former hostages of Colombia’s FARC faced aggression and abuse from their captors—and each other, CNN reports. Rebels were relatively cordial until Betancourt and former Colombian legislator Luis Perez made an escape attempt in 2005, surviving for 5 days in the jungle before they gave up.
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Politician's Colombia drama will show what people 'need to feel'
BBC Jul 6, 08 7:27 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Ingrid Betancourt’s ordeal in Colombia will soon hit a stage near you, the BBC reports. The French-Colombian politician, sprung last week from 6 years of captivity, will pen a play based on her experiences. “People need to understand this, but I can't just write it down the way it happened,” she said, insisting a book wouldn’t work for the project.
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Explosives planned for Bogota: authorities
Reuters Jul 6, 08 8:53 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The Colombian army seized nearly a ton of explosives near Bogota, foiling a bomb plot by the rebel group known as FARC, according to authorities. Military officials suspect a series of bomb attacks were planned across the capital in the next few days in retaliation for the recent high-profile rescue of 15 hostages, including Ingrid Betancourt, Reuters reports.
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Footage shows them hugging and crying on board helicopter
Associated Press Jul 4, 08 8:38 PM CDT
(AP)
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Video recorded during the rescue of 15 rebel hostages shows them filing grim-faced toward the helicopter that would fly them to safety, then hugging one another and crying with joy after they are aloft and realize they are free, the AP reports. Watch the video on the MSNBC link below.
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UPDATED
Former hostage, in Paris, says she was tortured, kept in chains for 3 years
New York Times Jul 4, 08 4:51 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Speaking after her arrival in Paris today, Ingrid Betancourt says she was tortured during her 6 years as a hostage of Colombian rebels, the New York Times reports. “I was in chains all the time, 24 hours a day, for three years,” she said, describing "diabolical behavior" by her captors. “I tried to wear those chains with dignity, even if I felt that it was unbearable.”
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Sarkozy welcomes freed hostage home
CNN Jul 4, 08 11:08 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Ingrid Betancourt returned to France today after 6 years in captivity in Colombia, CNN reports. "I have been dreaming for 7 years for this moment," the French-Colombian politician said at Villacoublay airport outside Paris. "I owe everything to France. You all shared my despair, my family's despair. I am carrying all of you in my heart."
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Freed Americans "in great spirits" at Texas military base
Washington Post Jul 3, 08 9:30 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The three American hostages rescued after more than five years in captivity in Colombia are in good physical and psychological shape, the Washington Post reports. The defense contractors, who arrived at a military base in Texas last night, were held by Colombian rebels in “very cruel and very spartan” conditions but are doing well and “in great spirits,” military officials said.
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Tearful reunion after Colombia captivity kept family apart for 6 years
Associated Press Jul 3, 08 2:44 PM CDT
(AP)
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The children of Ingrid Betancourt embraced their mother for the first time in 6 years today in a tear-drenched airport welcome, a day after the former presidential candidate was freed from rebel captivity by Colombia's government. "Nirvana, paradise—that must be very similar to what I feel at this moment," Betancourt told reporters as she fought back tears, her son bending over to kiss her and her daughter clinging tightly to her arm.
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