Columbia today exudes a very difficult political-social situation. The civil war between the guerrillas of Farc, the Eln and the paramilitaries, makes the latin-american country one of the social realities where the violations of human rights are higher, as the recent report of Amnesty International has already denounced.

More than 300 people have "disappeared", 4000 civilians have been murdered, and more than 3000 people are kidnapped each year.

Among these people is the ex-presidential candidate, Ingrid Betancourt.

Ingrid's father was in office as Minister of the Education of Columbia during the 1960s, her mother (once known to have been elected Miss Colombia, but more often remembered for her engagement in social activities, helping the orphans of Bogotà.) was also elected to the Colombia Senate. Ingrid grew up between Colombia and France, where her father was embassador of Colombia to UNESCO in Paris.

She took a political science degree in Paris, then in 1990 Ingrid decided to move indefinitely to her mother’s country with only one goal: to change Colombia, to fight against corruption and narcotraffic and to provide her fellow-countrymen a place where living could be easier.

Thanks to her fame, Ingrid was able to obtain encharges after the Ministry of Finance but she had to fight against forces more powerful than her. She then realized how hard this struggle to reclaim Colombia would be.

In 1994 Ingrid presented herself to the elections as a Member of parliament.

Her electoral campaign emitted controversy right away, mostly because of the symbol of the fight against corruption.

Thanks to the powerful impact of this image, Betancourt managed to be elected as a member of parliament and in she presented herself to the Senate hoping to increase her influence and her power, although minute, to change things.

During the first phases of her position in Parliament (and later in the Senate,) Ingrid was faced with corrupt politicians. She strived hard to fight this and unmask a slew of political conspiracies, but the effort was rendered useless. Through her active campaigning and fighting to end corruption and narcotraffic, her life became endangered. Threats were made not only against Ingrid but also her two children, Melanie and Lorenzo, who now rest safe with their father, Ingrid’s ex-husband.

In 2000, Ingrid published a book "Until Death Do Us Part" which has been translated many languages including English, French, Italian, and even into Japanese, in order to voice her concerns and endeavors to the public.

Her fight then becomes known throughout the world.

Ingrid’s goals do not stop there. She decided to try and make a bigger impact by deciding to run for President of Colombia for the 2002 elections. She creates her own party to voice her ideas, Green Oxygen.

During this electoral campaign, Ingrid showed all her desire to make Colombia a prosperous country. To demonstrate such loyalty to her cause, she travelled to S.Vicente, 600 km south of Bogotà, a territory occupied by FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Columbia,) an armed group that since 1996 is fighting against the government of Columbia to reign out the power.

It has been a civil war with many victims and that, most of all, made impossible the life of the people that have to survive in those territories.

In spite of the fact that the former President Pastrana discouraged Ingrid to make this trip and refused to give her an escort, she felt a moral duty being present among those people in difficulty.

Unfortunately this decision cost her dearly. On 23th of February 2002 Ingrid Betancourt was kidnapped by FARC, along with Clara Rojas, her best friend and director of her electoral campaign.

The Presidential elections went on as usual this year with the victory of the liberal Uribe.

Ingrid (although being kidnapped...) obtained 1% of the approvals, but she had always known that it would have been difficult.

Politics in Columbia have always been based on corruption, and it is no secret that many presidential campaigns were based on buying and selling votes.

Besides, for a poor campesino it is easier to believe to the pesos offered to him for a vote more than the words of hope by Ingrid, most of all now that FARC keeps her as a prisoner.

Federico Bastiani

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On 23rd of February 2002 Ingrid Betancourt fell into an ambush near S.Vicente while she was travelling in her car with Clara Rojas, a photographer of a French magazine, Alan Keler, one of Ingrid’s advisers and a Columbian cameraman.

Only Ingrid and Clara remained prisoners of the FARC, the other ones have been released to communicate the news of kidnapping.

With this move, FARC would like to use Ingrid as exchanging goods to obtain the liberation of 200 guerrillas of FARC held in the Columbian prisons.

The government of Uribe has already declared it doesn’t want to come to a compromise with FARC. The situation is serious.

The government of the former president Pastrana in 1998 had granted a territory to FARC to make easier the negotiations for peace. To say the truth, this territory has been used, most of all, for the illegal traffic of drugs and arms, with the president’s guaranty in other’s opinions.

However on 20th of February of this year the meetings for peace between the government and FARC were interrupted, because of some attacks and most of all in the name of a fight against terrorism that, after 11th of September, all the world is taking on forward.

After 3 days by the interruption of the meetings for peace, Ingrid Betancourt was kidnapped. The latest images of Ingrid dated back to the 24th of former July when she appeared in a recorded video.

She wore a mimetic tracksuit and she was visibly tried. In her speech (probably written by the guerrillas) Ingrid condemns the interruption of the meeting for peace.

The appeal hasn’t been received: on the first days of October the bombing began on the zone controlled by FARC and there was the news of Ingrid’s death, this news hasn’t found any confirmation then.

Anyone can ask to himself how the FARC, that with different means, fights for the same reasons of Ingrid, that is against corruption and for a right agriculture reform, decided to kidnap her.

The FARC gave just one year of time to the government to release the prisoners and go on with the meetings for peace, but the situation looks difficult.

In fact, it doesn’t seem that the government of Uribe is so impatient to see Ingrid free again.

Besides, no doubt she is a woman who has criticized and condemned the present political class on top of government.

Therefore, what can we do?

Juan Carlos Lecompte, famous Colombian advertising agent and Ingrid’s husband, declares that the best way to help his wife is to contribute to let her cause in the world be well known.

For this reason there are many enterprises on line to support her.

Ingrid Betancourt who’s at least 40, could really represent a radical changing with the past. But for that, she has to be free again. And we can do something.

Federico Bastiani.