Íngrid Betancourt

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Íngrid Betancourt on September 4th, 2008 in Pisa

Íngrid Betancourt Pulecio (born December 25, 1961 in Bogotá , Colombia ) is a Colombian politician who also has French citizenship . She ran in Colombia's presidential elections in 2002 and was kidnapped by rebels from the FARC guerrilla movement before the February elections and held hostage for years . In July 2008 she was freed by the Colombian military along with 14 other hostages.

family

Íngrid Betancourt is the second daughter of Gabriel Betancourt (1919-2002) and Yolanda Pulecio (* 1938). Her older sister is Astrid Betancourt (* 1960). She grew up in Paris , where her father represented Colombia at UNESCO . In the 1950s he was the Colombian Minister of Education. Her mother is a former beauty queen who later became a member of parliament and founded homes for street children in the slums of the capital, Bogotá.

Betancourt was initially married to the French diplomat Fabrice Delloye since 1981. This marriage resulted in two children, Mélanie (* 1985) and Lorenzo (* 1988). In 1990 the couple divorced. In 1997 Íngrid Betancourt married Juan-Carlos Lecompte, an architect, PR manager and co-founder of the former Colombian Green Party, Partido Verde Oxígeno (PVO). In March 2009 it was announced that she was planning to divorce him. The marriage was divorced in December 2011.

Íngrid Betancourt's father died of a heart attack exactly one month after her abduction, on March 23, 2002, at the age of 83 .

Life

Íngrid Betancourt was a student at the French high school Lycée français Louis-Pasteur in Bogotá . In 1980 she went to the elite university Institut d'études politiques de Paris and studied political science . After Luis Carlos Galán, who had declared war on the Colombian drug cartel, was murdered in 1989, Íngrid Betancourt decided to move to her home country. She first worked in the Ministry of Finance before applying for a seat in the Colombian parliament with a promise to fight corruption in the country.

From July 20, 1994 to July 20, 1998 she was a member of the House of Representatives . It revealed that then-President Ernesto Samper had funded his election campaign with drug money from the Cali cartel . She went on a hunger strike to enforce her demand for an independent investigation into the case. After several hours of speech in Parliament in June 1996, Íngrid Betancourt found a photo of a child's body dismembered in her mail. Only a few weeks later, her car was ambushed and someone tried to shoot her. She took her two children abroad in 1996 because of death threats against her and her family.

In the late 1990s Íngrid Betancourt first made acquaintance with the guerrillas. In the jungle she met the then FARC leader Manuel Marulanda . In 1997 she became a member of the Partido Verde Oxígeno (German: Green Oxygen Party ). Since July 20, 1998 she was a member of the Senate . She registered her candidacy for the presidential elections in Colombia in 2002 . Shortly before the peace talks broke off, she met again with the guerrillas on February 14, 2002 . Together with other presidential candidates, she discussed conditions for peace with the rebels.

Kidnapping by the FARC

Íngrid Betancourt (Stencil in Paris)

On February 23, 2002, Betancourt and her campaign manager Clara Rojas were kidnapped by left-wing FARC rebels when they were walking near the rebel-controlled area with French photographer Alain Keler . She and her companions were traveling in an off-road vehicle without escort. A few kilometers before the city of San Vicente del Caguán they came across a roadblock by the guerrillas. The women were loaded onto a vehicle and dragged into the jungle. The first sign of life from the two hostages was a video message dated May 15, 2002 in which Íngrid Betancourt declared that she was in favor of peace negotiations with the FARC.

In another video message on August 30, 2003, Íngrid Betancourt called on the government to end their hostage detention through political means. She also made an appeal to the public to do more for her release. On May 16, 2007, after his escape, Jhon Frank Pinchao, a police officer abducted on November 1, 1998, stated that he had been held in a group with Íngrid Betancourt. On the day of his escape - April 28, 2007 - he saw her for the last time. On November 30, 2007, the Colombian Army seized videotapes from arrested FARC rebels showing Íngrid Betancourt. According to the government, the recordings were dated October 24, 2007, so the pictures were the first sign of life of her in over four years.

In an interview with the BBC on December 20, 2008, she said that her belief in God was an essential aid without which she might not have survived the kidnapping. He would also have given her hope and strength to do good even under such adverse circumstances.

Former Congressman Luis Eladio Pérez, who was also kidnapped and released by the FARC in early 2008, said Íngrid Betancourt was "very, very sick physically and mentally exhausted". According to statements by the Catholic priest Manuel Mancera, she was brought to the infirmary for treatment by a doctor on February 20, 2008 in El Capricho, a village in the Guaviare province . You suffer from hepatitis B and the tropical disease leishmaniasis , said the clergyman.

After their release, three American fellow prisoners sharply criticized Íngrid Betancourt in the book "Out of Captivity" they published. They portrayed her as snooty, selfish and selfish. She stole other people's food and put the Americans in additional danger because she referred to them as CIA men to the FARC people.

Reactions abroad

March for the release of Íngrid Betancourt on April 6, 2008 in Paris

Internationally, this kidnapping brought the armed conflict in Colombia more into the public eye. Not least because she also has French citizenship, Betancourt's fate was followed with particular sympathy in France. In many Paris metro stations , billboards hung with an appeal (“L'oubli tue”, in English: forgetting kills ) so that Íngrid Betancourt would not be forgotten even after years of imprisonment. She has been an honorary citizen of Paris and Rome since 2002 .

Betancourt's fate has also triggered solidarity in other European countries, including Germany. On the fourth anniversary of their kidnapping, the federal chairmen of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen , Reinhard Bütikofer and Claudia Roth , called on the guerrilla organization FARC to “release Íngrid Betancourt and finally end their years of ordeal”.

Betancourt's husband, Juan Carlos Lecompte, accepted the Petra Kelly Prize awarded to her on December 13, 2002 in Berlin . The international jury awarded her with it on October 7, 2002. After her abduction, she was made an honorary citizen in over 1,000 municipalities - including Belgium, Canada and France . At an international summit of the Green Parties in Brazil on May 4, 2008 , Íngrid Betancourt was unanimously elected honorary president of the Global Greens .

Mediation efforts

Since her hostage-taking, her release has been negotiated with the FARC several times. a. mediated by France, Venezuela and Ecuador. Through the efforts of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez , the former Betancourts campaign leader, Clara Rojas, and Congresswoman Consuelo González, who was kidnapped on September 10, 2001, were released by the FARC in January 2008 . Another four hostages, the politicians Gloria Polanco, Luis Eladion Pérez, Orlando Beltrán and Jorge Eduardo Géchem, were released in February 2008. Ongoing mediation efforts were ended by an air and ground attack by Colombian military and police units against a FARC camp on Ecuadorian territory on March 1, 2008 , in which the FARC negotiator, Raúl Reyes , was killed (see: Armed Man Conflict in Colombia ). The President of Ecuador then accused the Colombian government of preventing the imminent rescue of twelve hostages, including Íngrid Betancourt, and added that he did not rule out that this was one of the reasons for the attack. However, experts consider it unlikely that the FARC actually planned to release Betancourt, as it was the most important bargaining chip for greater negotiated solutions and a guarantee for international attention for the FARC cause.

Following reports of Betancourt's threatening health, France, Spain and Switzerland started another humanitarian mission in April 2008 to rescue them from the violence of the FARC. The French government and Betancourt's son Lorenzo Delloye-Betancourt appealed to the kidnappers not to risk Íngrid Betancourt's life and to hand them over to French doctors instead. However, the FARC refused a release without the exchange of prisoners, which is why the rescue operation was canceled.

At the end of May 2008, Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez announced that several leaders of the FARC guerrilla movement had agreed to release Betancourt and other hostages.

liberation

Íngrid Betancourt with Italy's President Giorgio Napolitano on August 31, 2008 in Rome

On July 2, 2008, Betancourt was freed from captivity by the Colombian military together with three US citizens (employees of the US arms company Northrop Grumman ) and eleven Colombian soldiers in a bloodless operation . This insert, Operación Jaque called (dt. "Operation Chess"), was probably from that for the fight against terrorism and hostage rescue competent special unit of the army, the Agrupación de Fuerzas Especiales Antiterroristas Urbana executed (AFEUR, German "Grouping Urban Anti-terrorist special forces") . Other reports indicate that GAULA units played a role in the negotiations. Officials only reported that a special military unit had been responsible.

According to the government, a helicopter belonging to the armed forces was disguised as one of the FARC, flew to the rebel camp and the guards allowed the hostages to board without resistance. As the Wall Street Journal reported, the US government was privy to the plan for liberation very early on and supported it with concrete help. After previous military attempts to rescue other hostages had failed bloody, it was clear to those involved that every new action could only be successful through “cunning and not through armed force”, writes the paper. At the end of May, three officers of the Colombian army had developed the decisive idea: They wanted to use a gigantic bluff to get the rebels to have the hostages brought from the camp of FARC leader Gerardo Aguilar Ramirez to the camp of FARC leader Alfonso Cano. The rebels should believe that Cano wanted to start new negotiations with France and other states. According to the research, the basic prerequisite for this was a manipulated telephone line via which employees of the Colombian military intelligence service could contact both FARC camps. In a deception maneuver, the military convinced both sides of the need to transfer the hostages.

However, two days after the liberation, the Swiss radio station RSR reported that Betancourt and the other abductees had been ransomed by the Colombian government for a payment of US $ 20 million and that the liberation operation was just a staging. The FARC accused Betancourt's guards of treason and corruption. However, the governments of France and Colombia denied this. Betancourt himself does not believe in this version either. What she experienced could not have been a production. “César”, the FARC guerrillero responsible for guarding Betancourt, also denies having received any money for the liberation. However, a French diplomat, the former consul in Bogotá and special representative of the French government for the FARC Noël Saez , believes that the liberation campaign has been staged. He was convinced that the local Betancourt overseers, including the FARC commander "César", had been bought. His wife was arrested by the Colombian authorities shortly before the action and César was influenced by this.

In October 2008, two Colombian lawyers testified to the Miami newspaper El Nuevo Herald that they had been in contact with the FBI and the U.S. Embassy, ​​as well as the two later arrested FARC commanders responsible for guarding the hostages. Negotiated conditions for a hostage handover. They showed the newspaper emails detailing their efforts to reach an agreement. One of the emails indicates that the US government was ready to pay a ransom of $ 350,000. After her middleman for the negotiations with the two FARC commanders had promised the readiness for a hostage handover if the government sends helicopters to a location to be determined to pick up the hostages and the two FARC commanders and the latter before extradition to the USA protect, the lawyers had turned to the FBI and the US Drug Enforcement Administration, which had agreed with the plan, but had asked for a sign of life from the hostages, which never arrived. At the same time, the lawyers had sent documents to the two FARC commanders for signature, authorizing them to act as their legal representatives. While they were waiting for the powers of attorney, they were surprised by the successful release of the hostages.

After the liberation it became known that at least one member of the special unit used the symbol of the Red Cross for camouflage , which is a serious violation of the Geneva Conventions . The Red Cross condemned the misuse of the symbol. Other soldiers were disguised as journalists for the Venezuelan television station teleSUR and the Ecuadorian television company Ecuavisa . Both media announced the examination of legal steps against the use of their symbols. The Colombian government initially denied that symbols had been misused to deceive the rebels. Two weeks later, President Uribe stated that a soldier had spontaneously used the red cross symbol out of fear and against express orders. However, a video broadcast on television showed that a member of the liberation squad was wearing the symbol before the action began, which indicates the planned use of the symbol. President Uribe condemned the broadcast of the video as a possible "treason".

On September 1, 2008, two months after her liberation from the hands of the FARC, Betancourt was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI. received in Rome.

Honors

On July 14, 2008 Íngrid Betancourt was knighted by the French President Nicolas Sarkozy to the Knight of the Legion of Honor . On September 5, 2008, she received the M100 Media Award of the international editors-in-chief conference M100 Sanssouci Colloquium in Potsdam . On September 10, 2008, Betancourt was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize in the "Unity" category. On October 26, 2008, she was named "Woman of the Year 2008" at the Women's World Awards . On September 28, 2009, she received an honorary doctorate from the Université de Montréal in Québec / Canada.

Fonts

literature

documentary

  • Trapped in the jungle - The kidnapping of Ingrid Betancourt. By Angus Macqueen, 2009. ( Table of Contents )

Web links

 Wikinews: Íngrid Betancourt  - on the news
Commons : Íngrid Betancourt  - album with pictures, videos and audio files
Wikiquote: Íngrid Betancourt  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Triumph des Unbeirrbaren spiegel.de, July 3, 2008
  2. ↑ Diplomat considers Betancourt exemption to be staged spiegel.de, March 9, 2009
  3. ↑ Betancourt is divorcing Focus.de March 16, 2009
  4. ↑ Ex-Geisel Betancourt divorced In: Tages-Anzeiger from December 1, 2011
  5. ↑ Ex-hostages accuse Betancourt of arrogance In: derStandard.at of February 27, 2009 , accessed on May 22, 2012.
  6. ↑ WSWS: crisis in Latin America after an attack brand "Made in USA" March 11, 2008
  7. ↑ Red Globe: Correa: Massacre prevented Íngrid Betancourt's release , March 4, 2008
  8. ^ Heinrich Böll Foundation : Colombia: Rescue of Íngrid Betancourt failed ( memento of July 1, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) of April 9, 2008
  9. ^ WG Peace Research at the University of Kassel / ND: Interview with Raul Zelik : Bargaining pledge for negotiations ag-friedensforschung.de, from February 22, 2008
  10. ^ Courier : Relief campaign for Betancourt canceled ( memento of April 10, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) of April 9, 2008.
  11. ↑ ORF : Uribe: Telephone offers from FARC bosses newsv1.orf.at, accessed on May 25, 2019
  12. ↑ Romero, Simon, "Colombia Plucks Hostages from Rebels' Grasp" , New York Times, July 3, 2008 (accessed July 17, 2008)
  13. ↑ Fuerzas Especiales Anti-Terroristas Urbanas (AFEAU) at specialoperations.com ( Memento from January 25, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed July 17, 2008)
  14. ↑ El GAULA trabajó en el caso Ingrid Betancourt ultimahora.com, from February 21, 2010 (Spanish)
  15. ↑ About the "Operación Jaque" at ejercito.mil.co ( accessed June 17, 2008)
  16. ↑ Release Betancourt: FARC hostage Ingrid Betancourt after six years free Tagesschau from July 2, 2008
  17. ↑ Article in the mz from July 5, 2008: Telephone tricks and daring deception maneuvers
  18. ↑ RP: Was Betancourt ransomed? ( Memento from September 9, 2012 in the archive.today web archive ), July 4, 2008
  19. ↑ zeit.de Video is supposed to refute the staging of July 5, 2008
  20. ^ Liberation d'Ingrid Betancourt: "Cesar" never avoir trahi les Farc. In: Liberation of July 15, 2008 , accessed May 22, 2012.
  21. ^ Spiegel-Online: Diplomat considers Betancourt exemption to have been staged on March 9, 2009
  22. ^ Courier: Colombia: Red Cross abused ( Memento of August 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), August 6, 2008
  23. ^ Tiroler Tageszeitung : Betancourt meets Pope Benedict XVI. on Monday August 31, 2008
  24. ↑ focus.de Paris (dpa): Sarkozy makes Betancourt a Knight of the Legion of Honor from July 14, 2008
  25. ↑ [1] in picture from September 6, 2008
  26. ↑ cf. Prince of Asturias Prize in the Unity category goes to Ingrid Betancourt ( memento of October 14, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) at euronews.net, September 10, 2008
  27. ↑ Women's World Awards 2008: Interview with award winner Betancourt at www.news.at on September 5, 2008.
  28. ↑ Ingrid Betancourt recevra un doctorat honoris causa de l'Université de Montréal , from September 17, 2009 ( Memento from September 28, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on May 22, 2012.
personal data
SURNAME Betancourt, Íngrid
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Betancourt Pulecio, Íngrid
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Franco-Colombian politician
DATE OF BIRTH December 25, 1961
PLACE OF BIRTH Bogotá , Colombia