Ingrid Betancourt - Fact sheet
- 1961 : Born in Bogotá, Republic of Columbia.
- Educated in Paris where her father Gabriel Betancourt, a former Minister of Education in Columbia was Ambassador to UNESCO.
- Graduated in Political Science in France.
- Married a young French diplomat. They have 2 children. Ingrid is separated from her husband.
- Her mother Yolanda Pulecio is a former adviser to a murdered presidential candidate Luis Carlos GALAN who was in favour of extraditing drug barons.
- 1990 : After Galan's murder, Ingrid returned to Columbia to continue the fight against corruption and the narcotic industry.
- 1994 : Ingrid first elected to Parliament. Then she founded a new political party called 'Oxygeno Verde'
- 1998 : She topped the poll in the general election. Her safety now a problem (as it is for many politicians in Columbia) Her children leave the country to live with their father in New Zealand.
- 2001: Published an autobiography, a best seller in France but in Columbia had mixed reviews.
- 2002
- 20/02/02 President Pastrama ended a 3-year-old peace process with FARC and has since sent in the army to take back lands formerly handed over to FARC.
- 23/02/02 : When visiting a demilitarised zone Ingrid was kidnapped along with her friend and campaign manager Clara Rojas by FARC
- 23/07/02 : a cassette of Ingrid Betancourt, recorded on May 15th, is released by the FARCs to the media.
- August 02 : one week before leaving the presidency, Pastrana proposes a humanitarian prisoner exchange concerning two ex- ministers, Ingrid Betancourt and Clara Rojas, twelve regional deputees, five congressmen and 45 soldiers and policemen, some of them being held for more than three years.
- 08/08/02 : a new president : Alvaro Uribe takes power
FARC: =Forces armées révolutionaires de Columbia (17,000 members) : main guerrilla movement in Columbia and the oldest guerrilla group in Latin America.
There is another guerrilla group called ELN (Armée de liberation nationale (4000 members).
According to Amnesty International, the tentative by the colombian army to recover the old demilitarized zone caused many victims in the civil population. Under the pretext of a "war against terrorism" after September 11, a vast operation of re-militarization is organized in the country. Paramilitary forces (10,000 members) getting implicit or direct support from the Armed Forces are responsible for 85 % of Human Rights violations in the country.
Other facts:
- Pop. of Columbia is 40.8 millions : (see
article
in El Tiempo)
- 11 million live with less than 1 $ a day
- 53% of the land is own by 1.08% of the population
- 10 greater companies absorb 75% of the business
- 3.5 million children without any schooling; 8% of people 15 and plus are illiterate
- 20% of the richests people get 52% of the total national income
- 2 million people are displaced
- 31.3% unemployement; and 37.6% of employed people have a salary lower than minimal wages
- 63 murders/year per 100.000 inhabitants (around 100/year in cities like Medellin)
- Official Language; Spanish
- Status of country: Republic
- Type of Government: Democracy. A president is also elected.
- Quote by Maurice Vargas editor in chief of Cambio newspaper : "The guerrilla movement is corrupt. So also the paramilitaries, the Church is corrupt as well as the media, it is a real cancer"
- Radio Canada documentary 16/11/2001: "In 2000 more than 4000 people have been assassinated, 300 are missing and 300,000 have had been displaced. At least armed opposition or paramilitary organisations have kidnapped 1500 people."
