Posted on 08/30/2003 7:11:38 PM PDT by HAL9000
The guerrilla gives a proof of survival of Ingrid Betancourt (television)
The guerrilla Colombian gave Saturday a proof of survival of Ingrid Betancourt in a video introduced by the television Noticias Uno and turned after last 5 May.
In this 22 minutes recording, the ex- candidate of the Greens to the presidential elections in Colombia is declared favorable to an intervention of the army to try to release it.
Former Colombian presidential candidate seeks rescue from rebel captives in new videotape
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- Former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, held hostage by Colombian rebels for 19 months, urged the government to rescue her in a videotape broadcast by local media.
The video, which aired Saturday night, was the first sign Betancourt might still be alive since rebels released a different tape in July 2002.
There was no way of confirming when the latest tape was made. It was shown by Noticias Uno.
"A rescue, yes, definitely, but not just any rescue," said Betancourt, who appeared in good health. "It's important that it be the president who directly makes this decision."
Rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, kidnapped Betancourt and her campaign manager in February 2002 while the two women were trying to enter FARC-controlled territory in southern Colombia.
Betancourt had not been heard from since the 2002 video, in which she urged the government to reopen peace talks. Betancourt and Clara Rojas both appeared tired in that video, which apparently was filmed in May.
Betancourt is a former national senator who wrote a memoir that was a best seller in France. She is one of dozens of political hostages the FARC, Colombia's largest rebel group, hopes to exchange for imprisoned rebels.
Colombia is the world's kidnapping capital, with nearly 3,000 people taken hostage each year.
The government is battling the FARC, the smaller National Liberation Army rebel group and illegal paramilitary forces formed to combat the rebels in a four-decade-long civil war that kills an estimated 3,500 people, mostly civilians, a year.
Ingrid is a peculiar kind of Green, she had spoken out against government corruption loudly and longly, which earned her a contract on her life from that side, and she had spoken up against the FARC, which earned her their enmity as well.
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