Ingrid Betancourt

The author details her early years in Paris, where she was raised amidst diplomats, literary masters, and artists, and her return to her native Colombia, where, as a senator, she went up against the powerful drug cartels.

My Struggle to Reclaim Colombia

Until Death Do Us Part

Sarah Escorsa

I've always had conflicting feelings about Ingrid Betancourt. Of course her fight against corruption, against the drug lords who (seem to) finance the majority of the country's politicians, against electoral fraud, etc are all very worthy causes and I don't question Betancourt's motivations. What bothers me is that, from the very beginning (when she first ran to get elected as a Congress representative), the media (at least the French media) have been trying to make a saint of Betancourt and turn her into the "savior" of Colombia. It's as if there was only one opinion to be had about her and that criticizing her or her methods was forbidden, as if there was only one side to her story. I feel this has been further accentuated ever since Betancourt has been held hostage by the FARCs: for example, her family, whenever interviewed, seem to be waging a personal war on current President of Colombia Álvaro Uribe and the media just don't give us enough information as to why that is. Once again, we seem to be hearing only one part of the story and some information seems to be withheld from the general public. The involvement of Betancourt's parents in Colombia's political life in never mentioned in the media, which I find truly amazing, as it gives a very different outlook on her motiviations and struggle. Were it not for this book, I would never have known Betancourt's parents had been prominent political figures in Colombia! 

I was also surprised to find little mention of the FARCs in this book, which was written only a year before Betancourt's capture. While doing some research on the subject, I came accross an interesting review for this book, which can be read here (you might have to register to be able to read the review). 

The writing is a bit superficial, shallow, not to say quite poor at times. I wonder whether this has to do with the English translation or if this is a problem with the original version also.

Until Death Do Us Part My Struggle to Reclaim Colombia

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