Word: farce
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...November, during the arrest of several FARC guerillas in Bogota, Colombia, the police confiscated a video of Betancourt as well as a 12-page letter that she had written to her mother and family last year as proof that she was still alive. The poignant letter, penned in cramped handwriting, was immediately published as a book in France, where Betancourt grew up, and quickly became a best seller. An English edition was published by Harry N. Abrams in the U.S. this...
...seven days since she emerged from six and a half harrowing years as a FARC hostage in the Colombian jungle, Ingrid Betancourt has been canonized by the media. And Saint Ingrid has responded with inspiring grace and cool. She was feted at a glam-glitz reception by a rapturous Nicolas Sarkozy within hours of touching down in Paris on July 4. The fine features of the Paris-raised Colombian now grace countless magazine covers, replacing the gaunt image that had been prevalent until last week, one taken from a proof-of-life video and hung on city halls across France...
Despite Betancourt's obvious charisma and attractiveness, she had not a fig's chance of winning her 2002 campaign for the Colombian presidency at the time of her kidnapping. Her Green Oxygen Party had only one parliamentarian, who came from the area to which she traveled disastrously the day FARC rebels nabbed her. This past week Betancourt has said she does not know yet when she will return to Colombia, or what exactly her role will be. But she clearly has her eye on returning to Colombian politics, having penned a 190-point program while she was a hostage...
...Colombia Worry for Those Left Behind A week after the daring July 2 operation that freed former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and 14 others, some have expressed concern that the high-profile rescue did nothing to aid the nearly 700 others still held by Colombia's FARC rebels; one captive's mother referred to Betancourt as a "trophy hostage." Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, whose revolution inspired the group's creation in the 1960s, called for an unconditional release of all FARC captives, while stopping short of asking the group to surrender. Meanwhile, two rebels detained in the rescue face...
...them tomorrow. It's better if you leave. The army is going to seal off the area. If they find you, they'll kill you, then blame it on us." Whether or not that's true, deaths, drugs and desertions - and now its hostage debacle - have left the FARC with a bigger public relations challenge. It's one that guerrillas like Alberto have to confront as hard as the Colombian army is now engaging them. - With reporting by Tim Padgett/Bogot...