Interview with sister of Colombian hostage

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• published: 21 Jul 2015
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1. Set up Astrid Betancourt, Ingrid Betancourt's sister 2. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Astrid Betancourt, Ingrid Betancourt's sister: "At first I felt overwhelming emotion, and secondly great relief. It was very emotional to see my sister, having not seen her for 13 months as it's been more than a year since we last had proof that she was alive, and it's a great relief to see that she is in good health, both physical and mental, and has good morale." 3. Cutaway hands 4. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Astrid Betancourt, Ingrid Betancourt's sister: "The important thing about this proof that she's alive is that the FARC have allowed Ingrid to express herself freely, and even allowed her to state her opinion on the issue of exchange (of hostages for prisoners) even though it is contrary to theirs. Also we see that she is in a good physical condition. This means that the FARC want to show the whole world that they are not brutal terrorists that don't deserve to be thought of as political interlocutors, but rather that it's an organisation that treats its hostages decently (apart from the fact that kidnapping is of course an atrocity, we all agree on that) and that they respect their physical and moral integrity. I think that is really important. Secondly, Ingrid talks on behalf of civil hostages of three possibilities of rescuing them. The first are military rescue operations organised by the Colombian government because neither the government nor we the family must give up the basic right to fight for her liberty, but she says 'Watch it, not just any military rescue operation, it would have to be an operation which guarantees success' and because of this she said it would have to be the Colombian president himself who is in charge of the details of such an operation." 5. SOUNDBITE: (French) Astrid Betancourt, Ingrid Betancourt's sister: "The message is very clear: what they (FARC) want is to re-position themselves on the Colombian political scene. They are showing they are willing for new negotiations to begin with the peace process in mind - otherwise I really don't see why they would have allowed my sister to express herself like this and to show Ingrid in this condition and apparently all the other hostages are also well treated. I think this is a very strong message to the international community and is in line with the request the FARC made to the UN recently for Kofi Annan to listen to their political viewpoint." 6. Cutaway Astrid Betancourt talking STORYLINE: The sister of kidnapped Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt said on Sunday that a videotape showing the famous hostage alive and well, and urging the government to attempt a rescue, is a clear sign that her rebel captors want to "reposition themselves." The videotape, aired on the Noticias Uno television network on Saturday night, showed Betancourt for the first time since rebels released a tape in July 2002. Betancourt was kidnapped in February 2002 by Colombia's largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, while she was campaigning for the presidency. In the videotape, allegedly made on May 13, Betancourt asked the government to try to rescue her "but not just any rescue." "It's important that it be the president who directly makes this decision. I believe it is not a military decision, but a political one," she said. For her sister Astrid, who lives in Paris, "the message is very clear." She told Associated Press Television News that the FARC wanted to reposition themselves on the Colombian political scene, and show that they wanted new negotiations to begin. The FARC has wanted to exchange Betancourt - who has both Colombian and French citizenship - for some of their own held in Colombian jails. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/19f302926032a9a5dd72e6ec31ea1608 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork