(Ingrid Betancourt - six years as hostage is eternity no matter how you slice it)
An interview tonight with former hostage Ingrid Betancourt, conducted by the BBC's Alan Johnston, himself a former hostage, held by Islamic extremists in Gaza. Betancourt, you will probably remember was the French-Colombian politician and Senator who was captured and held hostage for six years by the Colombian rebel organization FARC. It was done a short time after her release and broadcast in December of 2008 over the BBC World Service. Betancourt captured the worlds attention from 2002 until her release, withstanding six years as a hostage and a relentlessly uncertain fate.
Ingrid Betancourt (on the experience of 6 years as hostage): “You have to go through it to understand. Because, you . . in the civil world, in the outside, the free world you can have problems but you always have a choice. And you always, I mean even though you could be mistreated or humiliated or whatever, you can just find another space. Here you are submitted to the will of others, to the arbitrary, to the cruelty of human beings and you don’t have a choice.”
Further evidence the human spirit can be remarkably strong.
