In her book “Even silence has an end,” French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt claims that her former running mate Clara Rojas planned the pregnancy of her child while being held in the jungle by FARC guerrillas.
Colombian newspaper El Tiempo on Sunday published parts of the book wherein Betancourt tells about her six-year captivity by the FARC. The book will be on sale in 14 countries and is released in six languages on Tuesday.
In the published excerpts, Betancourt tells how the relationship with her former friend deteriorated rapidly after the both of them were taken hostage by guerrillas in the south of Colombia.
According to Betancourt, Rojas lost interest in escaping their jungle jail, because she wanted to have children. “And the effort of a flight could disrupt her ability to conceive.”
The French-Colombian former hostage added that a guerrilla leader told her he had received an “unusual” request of Rojas demanding “her rights as a woman.”
“He is talking about her biological clock and says she does not have much time to become mother,” Betancourt wrote.
According to the excerpts, Betancourt tried to dissuade her friend of having a baby.
Rojas got pregnant of an unknown guerrilla after which her child was given to a peasant family in the southern Guaviare department.
Betancourt was kidnapped by the FARC on February 23, 2002, when she traveled to the newly-remilitarized El Caguan area to campaign for the presidency. Colombia’s armed forces rescued her and fourteen others in the highly-celebrated liberation mission “Operation Checkmate” on July 2, 2008.
Three American contractors who were Betancourt’s fellow FARC hostages, and who were also rescued in Operation Checkmate, painted a grim picture of the French-Colombian in their book “Out of Captivity,” claiming she was arrogant, stole food, and put their lives in danger by telling the rebel guards that the authors were agents.
Betancourt left Colombia shortly after she was freed in the daring rescue operation and has only returned briefly to her native land. She now splits her time between Paris and New York.