WhatFinger


Monsieurs Chavez & Sarkozy:

Whatever happened to negotiations for the promised release of Ingrid Betancourt?



The silence of French President Nicolas Sarkozy is deafening on the tragic fate of French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt. No questions from Sarkozy yesterday when Clara Rojas, who was kidnapped in 2002 along with Betancourt and Consuelo Gonzalez de Perdomo, a former Colombian member of congress, taken hostage in 2001, were set free and flown to waiting family members in Venezuela. Surely his question should have been: What about Ingrid Betancourt?

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Only last August, Sarkozy vowed to “fight” for the liberation of Ingrid Betancourt from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group. “Sarkozy compared Betancourt’s kidnapping to the diplomacy behind the recent freeing of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor from Libya: “The Bulgarian nurses were freed and taken to their country via a French airplane. It’s clear that we will find Ingrid Betancourt too, and I’ll fight with all my strength to free this woman who has been unjustly held in terrible conditions for five years, because it’s my duty to do it.” (The Latin Americanist, Aug. 24, 2007). “Sarkozy echoed statements made during his presidential victory speech in May where he said that “France will not abandon Ingrid Betancourt.” She has spent over 2000 days as a hostage, and her family members have urged both the U.S. land Venezuela to play a greater role in liberating her.” Then in early December Sarkozy said in a televised BBC World message that he had a dream: “to see Ingrid among her family this Christmas.” Sarkozy’s Christmas dream remarks were followed a week later by the release of a video seized by Colombian authorities, in which Ms. Betancourt was show looking thin and haggard. Ms. Betancourt was one of 45 high-profile hostages whose freedom Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez tried to broker in exchange for about 500 imprisoned guerrillas from FARC. That attempt collapsed and the collapse was lamented at the time by Mr. Sarkozy who made a direct appeal to FARC chief Manuel Marulanda to free Ms. Betancourt. “I do not share your ideas and I condemn your methods,” Mr. Sarkozy said in a message broadcast on French television. “You must save a woman in danger of death. You can show the world that the FARC understands humanitarian imperatives. Monsieur Marulanda, you carry a great responsibility.” But in yesterday’s dramatic release of Rojas and Gonzalez de Perdomo, there was no word from Sarkozy, who has been traveling with his ex-supermodel and singer girlfriend, who he is thinking of marrying. According to the weekly Le Journal Du Dimanche, Sarkozy, 52, gifted Carla Bruni a heart-shaped diamond engagement ring in December on a trip to Egypt over Christmas. It was on New Year’s Eve when news reports revealed that Chavez had failed in his attempt to have FARC release the hostages. Until the love bug bit, Sarkowsky was a participant in the Hugo Chavez-brokered hostage release attempts. Sarkozy received Venezuelan Chavez as a guest to his country on Nov. 20. According to Sasrkozy’s stated wishes, Betancourt’s release should “be achieved as part of a negotiated settlement and a humanitarian agreement”. According to www.intellectualconservative.com, “In August, Patricia Poleo, a Venezuelan-born journalist now living in the United States, claimed that Betancourt was being held in Venezuela. Poleo’s claim was strongly denied both in Venezuela and in Colombia. But shortly thereafter Chavez offered his services as a mediator between the Colombian government and FARC to secure the release of Betancourt and other hostages—including three American military contractors. “Sarkozy has strongly supported Chavez’s involvement in this process. At their meeting, Chavez was to purportedly offer proof to Sarkozy that Betancourt was still alive. How did Betancourt fade so quickly from the hostage release picture? And in the dice toss that seemed to characterize negotiations on the release of the hostages to Chavez, how is it that Betancourt was not among them? Did Chavez even ask for Betancourt’s release? Ingrid Betancourt health seems to be failing. In a letter released to her mother, Betancourt described how her strength had diminished, her appetite had gone, and her hair was falling out. “Here, we are living like the dead,” she wrote. Of. Ms. Betancourt, Sarkozy has said: “The flame is going out from this woman whose energy, audacity, courage, forced admiration from all who knew her.” For Ingrid Betancourt, the cruel clock is ticking. Where is her saviour now?


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Judi McLeod -- Bio and Archives -- Judi McLeod, Founder, Owner and Editor of Canada Free Press, is an award-winning journalist with more than 30 years’ experience in the print and online media. A former Toronto Sun columnist, she also worked for the Kingston Whig Standard. Her work has appeared throughout the ‘Net, including on Rush Limbaugh and Fox News.

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