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American Morning
Concern For Fate of Colombian Presidential Candidate Being Held Hostage by Rebel Guerrillas
Aired February 28, 2002 - 09:20 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: There is concern, this morning, for the fate of a Colombian presidential candidate being held hostage by rebel guerrillas. Ingrid Betancourt, a former Colombian senator now running for president of that country, was abducted this past weekend by the rebel group FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The group was negotiating with the current government to swap hostages for jailed rebels, but the talks apparently have broken down.
Joining us this morning from Bogota, Colombia is Juan Carlos Lecompte, who is Ingrid Betancourt's husband. Good morning. Thank you for being with us.
Good morning. Thanks a lot for the opportunity.
How was your wife kidnapped?
JUAN CARLOS LECOMPTE, INGRID BETANCOURT'S HUSBAND: Excuse me, I don't get the question. Can you repeat it?
CAFFERTY: Can you tell us how your wife was abducted?
LECOMPTE: OK, my wife was on the road between two cities, and she was stopped by the guerrillas on the road, and they kidnapped her. That happened Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon.
CAFFERTY: Have you heard anything from her since she was kidnapped?
LECOMPTE: No, we haven't heard anything from her, not even from the guerrillas, not even from the government.
CAFFERTY: Tell us about the rebel group that's kidnapped -- not just your wife, but they are holding a couple of hundred other hostages. Who are these people, and what do they want?
LECOMPTE: This is the biggest guerrilla in Colombia called FARC. They where in the peace process between them and the government, and that process was broke last week, and the military came to the sone (ph), and there were some people disappeared. The people there called to my wife to go over there to check it out what happened, and when she was on her way, she was kidnapped.
CAFFERTY: What will happen now that the negotiations have broken down? The government is saying they won't negotiate with FARC, the rebels, so what happens next?
LECOMPTE: My wife was there two weeks ago, and she did a speech in front of leaders of guerrilla. That's what broadcasted on a live to all Columbia. And we can see it from here. And in this speech, he says that we need a humanitarian agreement to stop the kidnapping in Colombia. There is 3,000 kidnapping in Colombia. And we need that agreement to stop forever the kidnapping in Colombia.
CAFFERTY: There's an election coming up in your country on May the 26th. The candidate who is favored to win at this point, a gentleman named Alvaera Reve Valez (ph), has taken a hardline with FARC. He said he will not negotiate with the kidnappers. What is that going to change? Will the election change anything?
LECOMPTE: Yes, that -- because the guerrillas have been doing all these things, horrible things. This guy is a right-wing candidate, is going up in the polls because of that, and, I mean, I don't know what's going to happen if he get elected. I don't know.
CAFFERTY: Obviously, you're worried about your wife. What do you think will happen to her?
LECOMPTE: I have no idea what's going to happen. We are going to keep rolling the campaign, because in Columbia, there is law, because all of these kidnapping, there is a law, that if you are not physical present and you still are alive, you can run for senator or even for president, so my wife is going to be in that election, even though it may -- maybe she's not going to be physical in presence.
CAFFERTY: To your knowledge, have the rebels killed any of the 200 hostages that they hold? Have any of them been killed?
LECOMPTE: Most of the time when the Army tried to do like an Army rescue operation, the guerrilla kill the victim, most of the time.
CAFFERTY: So they have killed hostages. Well, Mr. Lecompte, we feel you have our sympathy for the disappearance of our wife, and the political situation in your country is likely to get some clear definition with election on May 26th. I thank you for sharing her story and yours with our viewers on AMERICAN MORNING, and We wish you the best in efforts to get her safe return.
Thank you very much.
Thanks a lot.
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