Ingrid Betancourt

Ingrid Betancourt Pulecio (born December 25 1961) is a Colombian senator and anti-corruption activist. She is Colombia's most famous hostage. She was kidnapped by the FARC on February 23, 2002 while campaigning for presidency. Betancourt is still being held.

Meeting with FARC

As part of her campaign in 2002 (the election won by Alvaro Uribe Velez), she wanted to go to the demilitarized zone at San Vicente del Caguan to meet with the FARC. This had not been unusual — many public figures took the opportunity afforded by the DMZ, created by Pastrana to satisfy a FARC precondition for negotiations, to meet with the FARC.

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When Pastrana canceled the peace talks and revoked the DMZ due to the kidnapping of a politician by the FARC and sent the army to take it back (after a 48 hour respite that had been agreed to with the rebel group), several political and government figures attempted to continue their planned visits to the zone. Ingrid Betancourt was one of them and, when denied (for her own safety) transport aboard a military helicopter that was heading to the zone, decided to head into the DMZ by herself together with her presidential running-mate Clara Rojas. She was unlucky enough to be picked up by the FARC, who have held her ever since.

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Ever since the days of the Pastrana negotiations, when a limited exchange took place, the FARC have demanded the formalization of a mechanism for prisoner exchange. The newly elected Uribe administration initially ruled out any negotiation with the group that would not include a cease-fire, and instead pushed for rescue operations, many of which have traditionally been successful when carried out by the police's GAULA anti-kidnapping group in urban settings (as opposed to the mountains and jungles where the FARC keeps most prisoners), according to official statistics.

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However, relatives of Ingrid and most FARC kidnapping victims have come to strongly reject any potential rescue operations, in part due to the tragic death of the governor of Antioquia department, Guillermo Gaviria Correo, his peace advisor and several soldiers, kidnapped by the FARC during a peace march in 2003. The governor and the others were shot at close range by the FARC when the government launched an Army (not GAULA) rescue mission into the jungle which failed as soon as the guerrillas learned of its presence in the area.

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