Colombia 
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Ingrid Betancourt is a noted Colombian politician, former senator, and anti-corruption activist who has championed causes of justice and human rights throughout her career.
Ingrid Betancourt shared her story of activism, persecution, and resilience, including her kidnapping and captivity, as a speaker at Gonzaga University.
Ingrid Betancourt was featured in an Al Jazeera interview discussing her presidential aspirations and past experiences after being kidnapped by the FARC.
Thinking Heads positions Ingrid Betancourt as a keynote speaker, highlighting her resilience during six years of FARC captivity after being kidnapped during her presidential campaign.
The University of Ottawa mentions Ingrid Betancourt in their 'About Us' section, describing her return to Colombia and her election as a liberal parliamentarian and later as a senator for her party, Oxígeno Verde.
Alain Elkann Interviews features Ingrid Betancourt as a Colombian politician, former senator, and anti-corruption activist, noting her kidnapping by the Revolutionary Armed Forces.
Ingrid Betancourt delivered a TED Talk discussing the lessons she learned about fear and faith during her six years as a captive of the FARC.
Ingrid Betancourt, born on December 25, 1961, in Bogotá, Colombia, holds dual French and Colombian citizenship. She spent her upbringing in Paris, where her father served as Colombia’s ambassador to UNESCO. Betancourt studied at the Institute for Political Studies and, after marrying French diplomat Fabrice Delloye in 1983, lived in various countries before returning to Colombia in 1989. Her political career began in the 1990s, fueled by a commitment to fight corruption after witnessing the assassination of presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán. She was elected to the Chamber of Representatives in 1994, focusing on anti-corruption efforts and criticizing the administration of President Ernesto Samper during the 8000 Process scandal. After divorcing Delloye in the mid-1990s, she later married Colombian advertising executive Juan Carlos Lecompte in 1997. Her outspoken political stance led her to send her children to live in New Zealand due to death threats.
In 1997, Betancourt founded the “Green Oxygen Party” and was overwhelmingly elected to the Senate in 1998. In 2002, while campaigning for the presidency, she was kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) along with her campaign manager, Clara Rojas, in San Vicente del Caguán. Her captivity lasted over six years, during which she became an international symbol of resistance against political violence. She was dramatically rescued on July 2, 2008, during “Operation Jaque,” a meticulously planned military operation where Colombian security forces, disguised as humanitarian workers, extracted her and 14 other hostages from the FARC without violence. Her memoirs, “Even Silence Has an End,” were published in 2010, detailing her years in captivity.
Following her liberation, Betancourt received international honors, including France’s Légion d’honneur and Spain’s Prince of Asturias Award for Concord. She continued advocating for the release of other FARC hostages. Her first novel, “The Blue Line,” a love story set during the Argentine “Dirty War,” was published in 2014. In 2022, she announced her candidacy for president of Colombia again, participating in the primary for a coalition of centrist political movements before withdrawing her bid in May 2022. She earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Theology from Harris Manchester College, Oxford, in 2023, where she is currently a research fellow.
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