Ingrid Betancourt

Colombian-born politician and kidnap victim, she She is the mother of two children.

Colombian-born politician and ex-hostage, she holds French citizenship as well as Columbian. As she was campaigning for President of Colombia, she was kidnapped by a guerilla group called the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on February 23, 2002. She was held for six years and four months before the Colombian government was able to get secure her release by a covert operation on the morning of July 2, 2008.

She spent much of her early life in France since her father was a UNESCO ambassador stationed there. In 1983 she married French diplomat Fabrice Delloye. They had two children; she returned to Colombia in 1989 and divorced her husband a year later. She sent their children to live with him because of threats on her life. In 1997 she married Juan Carlos Lecomte.

She had been elected to Colombia's senate in 1998 and served until 2002 when she announced her decision to run for President of the country and found herself in the dire situation of being kidnapped. Her campaign manager, also taken hostage, was released in early 2008 but Betancourt was held until a daring rescue mission on July 2nd that year.

Since her release, she has worked for the freedom of other hostages and she has been named a knight of the Legion of Honour of France. She has also released details of her horrific ordeal living in the jungle at the mercy of her abductors.