YESTERDAY, on the occasion of the thousandth day of captivity of Ingrid Betancourt, kidnapped by the revolutionary armed forces of Colombia (Farc), on 23 February 2002, several hundred people demonstrated at place du Trocadéro in Paris, at her daughter’s appeal. Among the crowd there were several public figures, including Bertrand Delanoë, Mayor of Paris, and his first deputy Anne Hidalgo or again the writer Marek Halter. Mélanie, her 19 yr old daughter, does not wish to give up hope.

She still believes that her mother will be released. And she hopes that the French government will do everything to achieve this. When did you last hear from your mother? asks Mélanie Delloye. September 2003 but the cassette was filmed in May. And the first time was in July 2002.

What is the Colombian government doing to obtain her release? President Uribe is, it seems, negotiating with Farc because he thinks that this might promote his re-election. But Farc will never accept his proposal to meet him in a city like Bogota. We are at a dead end. My mother is among their political hostages, she is still a big fish, the symbol of a woman fighting corruption. And what about France? It has a large part to play. It is often forgotten that Mum is French, before being Colombian. Paris could lobby the Colombian government or even form direct contacts with Farc. How does one bear a thousand days of absence when one is 19 years of age? It’s tough. They have stolen a thousand days of her life, and of mine also. It’s time that can never be recaptured. Do you get discouraged? Yes. But I think that Mum would like us to go on with even more renewed vigour. What counts is to fight. Did you involve Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbruno in this march? Yes. It was also a march for the 3, 000 people kidnapped in Colombia and for hostages worldwide.

Translation French to English by: Miriam Lee
email: traduction@eircom.net