I will work tirelessly from now on, from sunrise to sunset, to be your president.
, Ms. Betancourt said during a press conference.
At the head of the small environmentalist party Vert Oxygène, the 59-year-old ex-hostage will participate in a primary organized to decide between the candidates of a centrist coalition, the Coalition of Hope.
In the event of victory, Ms. Betancourt will therefore represent the center in the presidential election of May 29, a current which wants to be an alternative to face-to-face, structuring in Colombia, between the right in power and the left, represented by the former -mayor of Bogota and former guerrilla Gustavo Petro, today the favorite in the polls.
” For decades we had only bad options: far right, far left. The time has come to have a center option. »
I believe in a world with a woman’s vision
, she added, setting as objectives the fight against insecurity and pollution.
2002. With the conviction that Colombia is now ready to change course”,”text”:”Today I am here to finish what I started with many of you in 2002. With the conviction that Colombia is now ready to change course”}}”>Today I am here to finish what I started with many of you in 2002. With the conviction that Colombia is now ready to change course
, she said, referring to her six years of detention in the jungle.
Ingrid Bétancourt was released with three American nationals and 11 other FARC hostages by the Colombian army in 2008.
Photo: AFP / Rodrigo Arangua
Mrs. Betancourt had been kidnapped by the Marxist guerrillas of the FARC while she was campaigning for the presidency.
She was rescued during a military operation and has since lived abroad, regularly staying in Colombia where she often takes part in public debate.
Compensation
The Franco-Colombian also spoke on Tuesday about the $ 36 million in financial compensation ordered in early January by the American justice against the deceased FARC, for their responsibility in his abduction.
We sometimes got used to thinking that seeking justice is abusive […]. I have come today to ask that every son, every daughter, every father, every mother be compensated, compensated and compensated
, hammered the candidate.
A federal court in Pennsylvania (northeastern United States) ruled on January 4 that the ex-hostage’s son – born in 1988 from his first union with Frenchman Fabrice Delloye –million before it is tripled with attorneys’ fees and costs”,”text”:”is entitled to compensation of $12million before it is tripled with attorneys’ fees and costs” }}”>is entitled to $12 million in compensation before it is tripled with attorneys’ fees and costs, or more than 36 million dollars, according to his lawyers.
Lawrence Betancourt, also called Lorenzo, who has American nationality, had filed a civil complaint in the United States in June 2018 against 14 former officials of the FARC, most of whom are presumed dead today or still in arms in the jungle.
In 2010, Ms. Betancourt had demanded compensation from the Colombian state for not having guaranteed her safety, but she had given up in the face of criticism.
I’ve been accused of being ungrateful, opportunistic, greedy […]. But the system of corruption that reigns in our country only recognizes the rights of bandits
, she castigated, saying to wait, like the other victims, truth, justice and reparation
investigations carried out by the Peace Court, set up by the 2016 agreement which ended a conflict of more than half a century with the Marxist guerrillas.
According to this agreement, those who confess their crimes and repair the damage caused to war victims will be able to avoid prison. Otherwise, they risk sentences of up to 20 years in prison.
