Ingrid Betancourt

Sometimes you need other people to embody situations so that you can talk about things that for you are important. And I think that being able to hope for the future is what builds in us the strength to just get rid of things that, in the past, can hurt.

We can't continue with a justice of vengeance. Peace will require us to accept a certain degree of impunity; it's inevitable.

I studied political science at the Ecole de Sciences Politiques in Paris.

I want to serve my country, but not necessarily in the political arena.

In the jungle, every day is like the other. So you need to have a special discipline to make things different and to keep in your memory the dates and the days. And I think that's something that's very important when you are held hostage.

I didn't want to accept that people would forget me, that the government wouldn't do anything to negotiate our freedom. After a year, I came to understand that not only had one year passed, many more would come.

I am not irresponsible.

You don't master your fear. You're not able to say, 'I'm not going to be scared.' But what you can do is say, 'OK, I'm very very scared, but I have to do this and this and this.'

I don't want to be submerged by depression.

The relationship with time changes when you're captive.

You need tremendous spirituality to stop yourself falling into the abyss.

After six years without seeing one, I love just seeing a smile - every smile I see gives me hope.