Colombia, Latin America: Week in Review
Ingrid Betancourt’s Request For Millions In Damages Sparks Controversy In Colombia
July 12, 2010 By Staff
Former hostage and Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt.
Today in Latin America
Top Story — Former hostage to Colombian rebels Ingrid Betancourt has asked for compensation from the Colombian government, alleging that her kidnapping resulted from state negligence, Agence France-Presse reports.
Betancourt, a former Colombian politician and dual citizen of France, was kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in February 2002 and held hostage until she was freed in 2008 during a military rescue operation.
On Friday, the Colombian government announced that she had initiated legal action to obtain roughly $7 million in damages for her and her family, alleging that her kidnapping had resulted from negligence on the part of the state. (News reports differ on the precise amount of damages sought.)
“The state gravely failed in its duty in allowing a presidential candidate to travel in this part of the country without proper protection,” the court documents say, according to Time Magazine.
In Colombia, which has remained in a state of war with several leftist insurgencies over the last half-century, the government is often charged with protecting politicians who face threats. Betancourt was kidnapped when she traveled into FARC-controlled territory to campaign for president, despite government warnings.
Betancourt’s demand touched off a bitter controversy, with Vice President Francisco Santos saying she wins the “world prize for ungratefulness,” according to Agence France-Presse. Others, including Marc Gonsalves, an American who was held hostage along with Betancourt, defended her claim.
Betancourt’s lawyer Gabriel Devis later issued a statement emphasizing that no one had been sued yet and that Betancourt was “deeply grateful” for her release, according to AFP.
Just Published at the Latin America News Dispatch
- Alison Bowen’s blog Beyond Borders discusses the U.S. federal government’s lawsuit against Arizona over the state´s controversial immigration law.
Headlines from the Western Hemisphere
North America
- A suspected drug gang leader was caught in Acapulco after a raid conducted by the Mexican marines Sunday.
- Democratic governors met in Boston over the weekend to discuss President Obama’s lawsuit against the controversial Arizona immigration law and how it will affect elections this fall.
Caribbean
- An American teenager known as the “Barefoot Bandit,” suspected of having stolen cars, boats and planes, was arrested in the Bahamas on Sunday after two years on the lam. He faces possible extradition to the United States.
- Pictures of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro visiting the National Center of Scientific Investigation were posted to the state-run CubaDebate Web site on Saturday. Castro has been ill since 2006 and is rarely seen in public or photographed.
- Conflicts over land are stalling Haiti’s recovery from the Jan. 12 earthquake.
- Roughly 500 U.S. drug enforcement agents and Puerto Rican police launched an operation Friday to dismantle drug gangs in the western part of the island. Officials secured arrest warrants for 158 suspects and planned to seize more than $1 million in property.
Central America
- Twenty-three Guatemalans were killed in violent attacks across the country on Saturday, which police suspect may have been coordinated.
- The Guatemalan navy captured a submarine heading toward the United States with five metric tons of cocaine inside.
- A Panamanian court announced Friday that it was dropping money laundering charges against former president Arnoldo Aleman.
- A second banana plantation worker was shot and killed by police in Panama as strikes continue over working conditions and union rights.
Andes
- The Colombia military attacked a FARC camp in central Tolima on Sunday, killing 12 bodyguards of rebel leader Guillermo Sáenz.
- Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez claimed that the Dutch government was allowing the U.S. to use the island of Curação as a possible base from which to attack Venezuela.
Southern Cone
- Chilean foreign minister Alfredo Moreno said the that Chile would allow released Cuban dissidents to enter the country.
- An Air France plane was forced to land in Recife, Brazil after a bomb threat was called into Rio de Janiero’s airport.
- On Sunday, the Argentine Catholic Church urged members to protest a senate measure scheduled for this Tuesday that could legalize gay marriage in the country.
- Uruguayan soccer star Diego Forlán was awarded the Golden Ball as the best player at the 2010 World Cup.
Image: fabiogis50 200.000 views computer KO @ Flickr.
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3 Comments
[…] of dollars for damages to her and her family. The demand quickly caused an outrage in Colombia and caused her to defend herself in a television interview from New York […]
So to my history of ingri betancourt pue she him quierte to extract the silver to the government since it is not like that because besides his liberation quite him salio well and in addition she n has to claim anything so before owes agradeser that his liberation was the whole success
for my Ingri Betancourt did not have to charge the government they helped to rescue her before and nothing happened to it was a great mission
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