One of the many dangers of life in Colombia is that of being taken hostage, and thousands of people are now held by the marxist guerilla group FARC in the jungle. They include men and women (and, indeed, children) from every walk of life, but perhaps the most high-profile is Ingrid Betancourt, who was abducted in 2002 and released in July 2008 after 6 years, 4 months and 9 days in captivity.
She had formed the Green Oxygen Party to campaign against corruption, and she was an outspoken critic of FARC. In 1998 she was elected to the Senate, and in 2002 she stood as a candidate in the presidential campaign.
She was abducted together with her running mate, Clara Rojas, in February of that year and little was heard of her until the release in December 2007 of the video from which the picture on the right is a still. Clara Rojas was freed earlier this year - having survived a Caesarian section performed with a rudimentary anaesthetic and a carving knife - but Ingrid, now depressed, ill and possibly dying, remains in captivity.
In 2007 she wrote to her mother: 'I am tired ... I have tried to maintain hope ... but Mamita, now I have given up.' In France and Canada, there were active campaigns to free her - she has dual French and Colombian nationality - and President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, who was instrumental in secruring the release of Clara Rojas, also appealed for her to be freed. In the end she was rescued - together with others, by the Colombian army.