Betancourt returning to Colombia soon to write play

Desideria (Moderator) says on Jul 6, 2008, 06:53:

Ok, so no traces of hepatitis, leischmaniasis, anything? That's good. Makes me wonder about the rumors of the guerrilla transporting her in a critical sate to a rural healt facility where she got medicine and care that circulated a few months back. She has made an amazing recovery.

"When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?"(First Witch in Macbeth)

0 funny, 0 helpful.

sloopskipper says on Jul 6, 2008, 07:00:

But she had mentioned how another prisoner(?) gave her some medical attention. Wasn't a nurse, but the person had some experience.

She did look surprisingly fit.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

sloopskipper says on Jul 6, 2008, 08:07:

Desi, the comment, "She has also paid tribute to one of her fellow captives, Colombian army corporal William Perez, saying he had saved her life thanks to some medical knowledge.", is in:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23977159-2703,00.ht...

0 funny, 0 helpful.

dwmte7 says on Jul 6, 2008, 09:25:

oh, i misunderstood the post...i thought she was coming back to write and play.

dwmte

0 funny, 0 helpful.

sloopskipper says on Jul 6, 2008, 09:39:

jaja! Well, maybe that too.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

huskie says on Jul 6, 2008, 14:07:

I find hard to believe that she has been released from the hospital with a clean bill of health, it was said evrywhere, if I recall, that she was suffering from Hepatatis B, that maladie does not go away overnight, or even in a few months, if all those reports were true, she would probably be dead by now., or will kill her slowly. There is no way she could have been treated succesfully in a jungle hospital, or rural health facility.
BTW, I also heard her say in an interview, that she was planning on writting a play.
Cheers

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds-"

0 funny, 0 helpful.

dwmte7 says on Jul 6, 2008, 14:18:

well, huskie....look at the photo of her in the jungle were so familiar with...dead/dying'/sick; then look at her as she steps off the helicoptor. vibrant, made up, camo chic....what else can i say. oddly enough there's something hollywood about the whole thing.

dwmte

0 funny, 0 helpful.

sloopskipper says on Jul 6, 2008, 14:19:

I'm sending her back!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

sloopskipper says on Jul 6, 2008, 14:26:

Yes, the urgency, not long ago, was that she was near death. She looked quite chipper and bubbly, a few weeks later.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

billyb says on Jul 6, 2008, 15:28:

Maybe the fed her well in the last month when they got the fake orders from Cano to gather them up to be picked up by a foreign NGO. They didn't want her looking to be at death's door in th world press.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

droble77 says on Jul 6, 2008, 16:52:

Guys, she was DEPRESSED when those recent images (now infamous) were recorded.

I'm not an expert on depression, but from what I've read, you don't want to do anything, not even eat. Notice in the film, she didn't even want to look up at the camera, like she was in her own world. That's another sign of a depressed state of mind.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

sloopskipper says on Jul 6, 2008, 17:17:

I am also no expert, although I do have some experience. I think in the real World depression does not, POOF, disappear with a change in situation in a couple hours, but only in theatrics.

From dying woman to a vibrant, bubbly person? I think only in the movies.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

droble77 says on Jul 6, 2008, 17:33:

The video and letter were released in Nov. 2007, over seven months ago, that's a "poof" ?

And in any case, that video was most likely not recent at the time of "release" from the FARC, it was probably taken early or mid 2007.

Folks, let's stick to Occam's Razor and avoid the conspiracy theories. . .

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Lcacique says on Jul 6, 2008, 17:58:

Oh yes, it was all an act. Maybe she ate some bad lechona or drank to much Ron Viejo de Caldas, who knows?

I can say this, if I was held hostage in the jungle I would feel like shit. If i was released and was reunited with my family and friends, I would feel great: POOF!!!

Maybe she staged the footage with the help of the FARC so that she would gain sympathy votes in order to get elected...is that the idea?

Hoy se nota en la floresta un ambiente de alegría. ¡Y el rumor de ranchería es mas dulce y sabe a fiesta!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

dwmte7 says on Jul 6, 2008, 19:13:

well, LC, now that you mention it, it don't sound bad for a story line.... remember, she's comin back to write and play.

dwmte

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Lcacique says on Jul 6, 2008, 19:28:

myself, I was hoping for an opera...

Hoy se nota en la floresta un ambiente de alegría. ¡Y el rumor de ranchería es mas dulce y sabe a fiesta!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Desideria (Moderator) says on Jul 6, 2008, 20:23:

I wasn't really suggesting that she has just pretended to be sick. She has been, perhaps not with Hepatitis B, but ulcers, depression (it said tropical diseases somewhere, I'm not sure what it meant, malaria, Leischmaniasis?) just that she made an amazing recovery in those 7 months.

Back in the 70's there was another Colombo-European kidnapping in Cauca, when the Dutch consul Eric Leupin was kidnapped by the FARC, released 20 months later after 1million dollars ransom was paid. He wrote a book "El lado oscuro del nevado" (The Dark Side of the Mountain) about this experience.
http://www.abcbookworld.com/view_author.php?id=3442

"When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?"(First Witch in Macbeth)

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Desideria (Moderator) says on Jul 6, 2008, 20:34:

The Dark Side of the Mountain (Fran Kay/Hushion House $19.95).

[See below]

[BCBW 1996] "South America"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Dark Side of the Mountain (Fran Kay/Hushion House $19.95) Article


While building a road in a cold and mountainous region of Colombia, Eric Leupin, a Canadian born engineer, was kidnapped at gunpoint by Marxist guerrillas on January 31, 1975.
To mark the 20th anniversary of his release from a 20 month ordeal, Leupin has published his memoir, The Dark Side of the Mountain (Fran Kay/Hushion House $19.95).
At 42, Leupin was manager of Reforestaciones Ltda, a small company which planned to supply wood to a large pulp firm. “I didn't think they would ever kidnap me because we thought we were doing good work,� he says.
One of his employees was murdered; then Leupin was led on a gruelling trek to a remote hideout by members of FARC, the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia. As an Honorary Consul for the Netherlands, Leupin was held for ransom, under constant surveillance.
“From the beginning I have been determined to be as difficult a prisoner as I can get away with,� he writes. “... I think it best for me to isolate myself as much as possible and to keep conversation to a minimum. Under no circumstances should there be a chummy attitude, no matter how hard this is for me.
“Only in this way can I maintain the relative respect that the guards have shown towards me up to now. I should ignore them and I should never break down in front of them.�
Leupin was afraid one of his captors might inadvertently pass along confidential information about FARC which might later place him in danger.
Leupin was fed and clothed as well as circumstances allowed. He was also allowed to keep an extensive journal (later confiscated) and a transistor radio. He concentrated on making wood carvings, writing a cartoon strip, inventing a board game and reading two books lent to him by the camp intellectual — One Hundred Years of Solitude by Marquez and A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens.
Leupin also read guerrilla training manuals which allowed him to cleverly deduce his approximate location. By constructing dummies under his bedcovers, Leupin was twice able to make intricately planned escape attempts. Once he managed to flee into the jungle for eight hours. Leupin pinned his remote hopes for rescue on devising coded messages hidden within the letters his abductors forced him to write. The letters had to be sent to prove he was still alive.
When Leupin's desperate wife was finally able to conduct secret negotiations with FARC via Leupin's uncle — because she herself was being watched by the police and her phone was tapped — the first payment attempt to FARC was thwarted by the army.
Abductions and kidnappings were so common in Colombia that a national curfew had been decreed by the government in June of 1975. It was illegal for private citizens to pay ransom to kidnappers — and still is.
After the ransom was finally paid surreptitiously, Leupin was allowed to walk out of the jungle with his wood carvings, some boiled eggs, some bread, some orchids and some bus money.
“Panic struck me,� he recalls. “I felt scared and helpless. The uncertainty of how Ann and the children would react to seeing me again after such a long time had me extremely worried. Would the children recognize and accept me?�
Leupin stealthily reunited with his wife at a friend's house on October 2, 1979, avoiding the police. He arrived first and hopped into the shower. His wife Ann stepped into the shower fully clothed to embrace him.
The day after his arrival, the local radio station suddenly stopped broadcasting a soccer match from Cali's large stadium. When Leupin's release was announced to the crowd, there was a tremendous uproar by the fans. “It was so loud,� Leupin recalls, “it was heard all over the city.�
Intensive media coverage followed. There was a press conference with more than 100 reporters. A documentary film was made and Leupin published a memoir El lado oscuro del nevado. Leupin and his family left Colombia thirteen years later, in 1989, after visiting British Columbia for their 25th anniversary holiday in 1988. Leupin and his wife currently operate Drummond Lodge Motel in Williams Lake.
[Leupin's communist captors were ideologically similar to the Tupac Amaru group which recently took hostages in Peru. They were well trained, dedicated and relatively respectful of their prisoners. Leupin monitored the Peruvian stand off by reading Colombian newspapers on the Internet. He approved of President Alberto Fujimori's hard line stance.]

"When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?"(First Witch in Macbeth)

0 funny, 0 helpful.