BOGOTA NOMINATES INGRID BETANCOURT FOR THE 2009

UNCLAS BOGOTA 003909 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR FR CO SUBJECT: BOGOTA NOMINATES INGRID BETANCOURT FOR THE 2009 SECRETARY'S AWARD FOR WOMEN OF COURAGE REF: STATE 99729 ¶1. Embassy Bogota nominates Ingrid Betancourt for the 2009 Secretary's Award for Women of Courage. ¶2. Below are the requested details (see reftel) for the nomination: Full Legal Name of Nominee: Ingrid Betancourt Pulecio Job Title/Association: Activist Date of Birth: 25 December 1961 Country of Birth: Colombia Citizenship: Colombian/French Address: France Telephone: N/A Email: N/A Passport Number: PO024432 (expired) Note: We have been notified by the Committee in Support of Ingrid Betancourt that they are not allowed to provide her personal email and telephone. They provided the name and email of her personal assistant, Marie Duval, marieduvalgreen@gmail.com, who would coordinate Betancourt's travel plans. Justification: After being held hostage for more than six years in the Colombian jungle, Ingrid Betancourt has become a worldwide symbol of freedom and human resistance in the face of severe hardship. Her struggle in favor of democracy has been an encouraging example of dignity and valor. Even before her harrowing ordeal of being held hostage for more than six years by the vicious terrorist group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC),Betancourt was a staunch supporter of human rights, anti-corruption, democracy promotion, and peace in Colombia. Since her rescue from captivity on July 2, 2008, she continues to work to encourage peace and national reconciliation efforts in Colombia as an international activist based in France. Throughout her life, Ingrid Betancourt has striven to promote human rights and peace. Her political career commenced in 1994, when she stood for parliament as a candidate for the governing Liberal Party. In public service, she focused on fostering democracy and social justice, as well as fighting corruption, drug trafficking and violence. She abandoned the Liberal Party in 1998 due to then-President Ernesto Samper's receipt of campaign funds from narcotraffickers and ran for the Senate on the Green Oxygen Party ticket. She resigned office to stand in the presidential elections for the New Colombia Movement in 2002, the year in which she was kidnapped by the FARC along with her campaign manager and running mate, Clara Rojas. Rojas was freed by the FARC on January 10, 2008. She wrote two books during her period in public service: "Si Sabia" ("Yes He Knew" which was published in 1996) about the funding of President Samper's presidential campaign by the Cali Cartel, and an autobiography, "La Rabia en el Corazon," which was published in 2001, (in English as "Until Death Do Us Part: My Struggle to Reclaim Colombia"),in which she criticized the widespread corruption among Colombia's political elite. She has also published a collection of her letters to her mother from captivity. Her kidnapping led to strong public responses and calls for solidarity and freedom throughout the world. Currently based in Paris, France, Betancourt remains an international activist focused on seeking peaceful resolutions to the conflict in Colombia. She continues to urge the FARC to free the hundreds of remaining hostages they hold captive, and has also called on the FARC and the Government of Colombia to find a negotiated and lasting solution to end Colombia's 44 year-old conflict. She is calling for a national march in Colombia on November 28 in honor of the remaining hostages. On October 24, Betancourt received in Spain the 2008 Prince of Asturias Award for Concord for promoting understanding between people around the world. In her acceptance speech, she called on the international community to continue its support for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Colombia. She has been named an Honorary Citizen of more than a thousand cities in over twenty countries. She also received France's prestigious Legion d'Honneur and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. ¶3. Ms. Betancourt was notified of her nomination on October 24 by Embassy Paris via a letter from Ambassador Craig Stapleton and we plan to follow up with her this week to verify her willingness to travel to Washington in March 2009 if she is chosen. BROWNFIELD