Ingrid Betancourt

France is my home; you are my family. I am carrying all of you in my heart.

I carry the voices of all my family within me, and they were with me there in the jungle.

In the jungle, faith also became something very real; it helped me to understand what was happening to me and changed my questions.

The voice of the Holy Father was like a light.

We're humans. Why always turn human attitude into political behaviours? I hate that.

I think that the worst thing is realizing that mankind - that - that human beings can be so horrible to other human beings.

We have to be aware of our fragilities as human beings - when we see cruelty, to understand that in certain conditions, we could be cruel, too.

I had this belief that I couldn't just accept to be treated as an object. It was a problem of dignity.

I know that I have to give testimony about all the things I lived, but I need time.

I was in chains all the time, 24 hours a day, for three years. I tried to wear those chains with dignity, even if I felt that it was unbearable.

I lived for nearly seven years with the awareness that death was my everyday companion.

Like in every peace process, and especially in Colombia, there all kinds of problems that will come through. Not only is the process by itself very complicated but it has lots of underground complications.