PARIS — Ingrid Betancourt reiterated Saturday that she does not think her freedom or that of 14 other hostages was bought with a ransom to their Colombian rebel captors. But she suffered so much, she said, that had a ransom been paid, “Why not?”
Three days after her dramatic rescue, the 46-year-old French- Colombian underwent a battery of medical tests, saying later that doctors “filled me with joy,” suggesting that her health has not been permanently compromised from six years of jungle captivity.
Betancourt said she was still getting used to freedom.
While showering late last night, the light was accidentally turned off and “I lost the notion of where I was. . . . I said, ‘My God, the FARC is back.’ ”
Betancourt was running for president in Colombia when she was kidnapped in 2002. Asked whether she wanted to continue that quest, she shied away from the notion.
The Associated Press
