The emotion was palpable on set. In February 2002, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) were in the spotlight. The reason: the kidnapping of Ingrid Betancourt, environmentalist candidate for the Colombian presidential election. Held captive for more than six years in the jungle, she shared her fate with fourteen other hostages. It was only on July 2, 2008, during an operation by the Colombian army, that she regained her freedom. His spectacular rescue, broadcast and praised in the media around the world, remains one of the most significant episodes in Colombia's recent history.
Very discreet in the French media, the Franco-Colombian was the exceptional guest of “Face à Hanouna” this Sunday, December 1 on C8. Upset, she returned with emotion to the support of her family, her reunion with her children in Paris, but also to the death of her father, Gabriel Betancourt, Colombian politician and diplomat. In March 2002, he died at the age of 83. Ingrid Betancourt had been held hostage by the guerrillas for a month. So she learned of her father's death while in captivity.
“How did you learn it?“, asks Cyril Hanouna. “It's going to be hard…“, reacted the former Colombian presidential candidate, trying to contain her emotion. “And then we move on because I'm going to cry”she adds before taking a moment to tell her story, leaving a moment of silence on the set. “It was, I think, a month after my capture. I had already tried to escape so I was tied up in chains“, she continues, trying as best she can to hold back her tears.
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“I'm trying to recover, first morally. The hours pass and we get bored. I saw that in the camp, there were provisions arriving. And these provisions were wrapped in newspaper. I asked the commander if he could pass me the sheets to read something. He accepts, they bring me the sheets and I organize them by date“, she explains. “An image catches my eye, it's half a newspaper page, and there is a coffin, journalists taking photos all around. I look at the explanation of the photo, and it says: journalists gather around the coffin of Gabriel Betancourt“, she concluded, in tears.
Considered a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union, the Farc has long waged a violent guerrilla war against the Colombian government. Financing their operations through drug trafficking, the exploitation of gold and precious stones, extortion and even kidnappings for ransom, the Farc have left their mark on the country through decades of conflict. In 2016, historic peace agreements led to the disarmament of the organization, but the violence did not disappear as other armed groups continued their struggle. In 2023, Colombia will record more than 200 kidnappings, an alarming increase of 72% in one year.
