Betancourt Was Annoying Hostage

Ever since former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt was rescued from a Colombian FARC camp, she has been portrayed in the international media as a hero. In a new book, three fellow captives have some advice for the world: Just try spending years with her in captivity in a jungle prison. According to the three Americans authors, who were rescued with Betancourt and 11 others by Colombian commandos, Betancourt was always “seeking to put herself at the top of a hostage hierarchy, hoarding used clothing and writing materials from the others, determining bathing schedules, hiding information from a transistor radio that she had squirreled away, even throwing a fit about the color of a mattress she was given.” “We were infected enough with her behavior in the jungle,” one author said. “Now I just want to get immunized.”