Clara Rojas says it was “blatantly stupid” to accompany her former boss
and friend Ingrid Betancourt on the trip that got them both kidnapped
by the FARC.
Rojas accompanied Betancourt on a trip to San Vicente de Caguan as part of Betancourt’s 2000 presidential campaign and is about to publish a book about her years-long FARC captivity and defrauded friendship with Betancourt.
In an interview with Spanish newspaper El País, Rojas says she was warned about the dangers of the trip to FARC territory, but received little positive feedback by her boss when warning her. “Clara, if you don’t want to go, then don’t go. I’m going anyway,” Betancourt’s response was, says Rojas.
“I told her I would go with her and that decision marked my life. I should have told her no, but I said yes. After hanging up the phone I had dinner with a friend at home. We drank a delicious bottle of white wine. When leaving, he gave me a kiss and a big hug. I am not exaggerating when I say that it was the last gesture of love and friendship I received until the day they released me. And in between that embrace and the release were six years. Six long years,” Rojas told the newspaper.
After they both had been rescued, the two former friends never spoke again, Rojas said.