Ingrid Betancourt

I watched Ingrid Betancourt on Oprah this week. She was running for the President of Columbia in 2002 when she went into an unsafe area controlled by leftist guerrillas against the advice of her security experts, and she was kidnapped and kept in a Colombian jungle for six years as a hostage. She is now doing a media tour to kick off the release of her book, “Even Silence Has an End.”

While she went through an absolutely horrific ordeal that no one should ever have to endure, I was troubled by what the other hostages and her campaign running mate said about Betancourt. Clara Rojas, Betancourt’s vice presidential running mate and campaign manager, said that Betancourt’s book is full of “lies and spite”.

In watching Betancourt’s demeanor on Oprah and hearing her at one point say something to the effect she believed it was her right, and then abruptly stopping as she said it…clearly self-censoring herself, I tend to believe the people who have spoken out against Betancourt.

Furthermore, Betancourt’s own husband has filed divorce citing infidelity and ungratefulness. Clearly, no one stands in support of Betancourt and with that, I am surprised Oprah gave her an hour show.

From Deutsche Welle, Betancourt’s own words are quite telling:

I wasn’t sensitive enough to understand their despair,” she writes of the other hostages who did not have her celebrity status. “I saw myself as a symbol that could be useful for all of us. I did not understand that everyone needs to have a face.

Betancourt comes across as very selfish, self-centered and arrogant. You know what I say about arrogant people… I certainly don’t care to read her book.