Is Ingrid Betancourt behind $15 million bankrupt Colombia litigation?

The almost $15 million in lawsuits, launched against the Colombian government by four former Colombian Congress members held captive by FARC, indicate that Ingrid Betancourt may have been on a path to bankrupt the Colombian government in her bid for $6.8 million. Just like Betancourt, all four former Congress members Gloria Polanco, Jorge Eduardo Gechem, Orlando Beltran and Consuelo Gonzalez de Perdomo base their claims in separate lawsuits that the government failed to provide them with adequate security.

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Amid a vociferous public outcry, Betancourt said she wouldn’t sue and that her aim in filing for compensation for her time as a hostage was to help other ex-hostages. Her `request for conciliation’, she said, was intended to “open the way so that other people who have been kidnapped can get compensation”. Opening the way for compensation for “other people” who have been held hostage, in this case seems to be restricted to former hostages who are former congress members. The $15 million in lawsuits against the Colombian government had already been launched by the four former congress members between April and May of this year. The news of Betancourt’s compensation came within days of her return to Colombia to mark the second anniversary of her July 2, 2008 release with 14 other hostages. There is no doubt that Betancourt had strong ties to the litigious four, having served time as a representative and a senator when three of the four were in office and having been in the same jungle prisons when they were held captive by FARC. More...

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