Ingrid Betancourt: What six years in captivity taught me about fear and faith
Ingrid Betancourt: Ce que six ans en captivité m'ont enseigné sur la peur et la foi
Ingrid Betancourt was a presidential candidate in Colombia in 2002 when she was kidnapped by guerilla rebels. After six years in captivity and a high-profile rescue, she now writes about what she learned about fear, forgiveness and the divine. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
que j'étais courageuse.
I'd climb the highest tree,
je grimpais à l'arbre le plus grand
de n'importe quel animal.
any temperature."
Colombian politics,
en Colombie,
to withstand any temperature.
à toutes les températures.
la corruption du pays,
and drug traffickers.
et le trafic de drogue.
en mon nom,
le Président de la République
qu'ont commencé les menaces.
out of the country one morning,
in the French ambassador's armored car.
de l'ambassadeur de France
but emerged unharmed.
mais j'en suis sortie indemne.
with the highest number of votes.
avec le plus grand nombre de votes.
because I was brave.
me considéraient comme une combattante.
candidate in Colombia
à la présidence de la Colombie
mon agenda de campagne
by a group of armed men.
par un groupe d'hommes armés
with military garments.
elles étaient en caoutchouc.
wore leather boots.
ils portaient des bottes en cuir.
everything happened very quickly.
tout s'est passé très vite.
to stop the vehicle.
d'arrêter le véhicule
stepped on an antipersonnel mine
marchait sur une mine antipersonnel.
that the young man understood:
because I'm reliving these emotions --
parce que je revis les émotions,
that something inside of me was breaking
que quelque chose se brisait en moi,
with his fear.
et je ne pouvais pas penser,
à mes enfants. »
the deepest depths of the jungle,
au fin fond de la jungle,
was what was happening to my mind,
all the phone numbers,
importants de ma vie.
to doubt my mental health.
de ma santé mentale.
à la dépression.
behavioral changes
in moments of panic.
pendant les moments de panique.
chained by the neck to a tree.
to use the bathroom.
j'ai pris la décision
the right moment, the right way to do it,
je cherche le moyen,
et grandir.
when I talk about all of this,
quand je parle de tout cela
and mental block,
et du blocage mental,
that the guerrillas had built
construit par la guérilla
aux quatre coins,
guns at us 24 hours a day.
pointés sur nous en permanence.
ils criaient :
in numbered sequence.
avec les nombres, dans l'ordre.
call me by my name."
appelez-moi par mon nom. »
to that of the other hostages,
de mes camarades,
they would be punished.
de défendre mon identité
to defend my identity,
je ne voulais pas
a thing or a number.
en une chose, en un numéro.
la dignité humaine.
ils séquestraient depuis des années
supportive trust,
une confiance solidaire,
de millions de bêtes,
while I was in the jungle.
pendant que j'étais dans la jungle.
scorpions, anacondas ...
with a 24-foot long anaconda
did us as much harm
they sparked betrayals,
for a long time was with Lucho.
for two years longer than I had.
deux ans de plus que moi.
de nous attacher
to lower ourselves into that dark water
dans cette eau obscure
we would hide in the mangroves.
dans les mangroves.
and let the current carry us.
par le courant.
through that with Lucho,
unis, à la peur,
was so damaging to us
nous ont fait tellement de mal
that I want to give to you.
how to develop faith.
for more than eight years.
depuis plus de huit ans.
the biggest scaredy-cat of us all.
le plus peureux de nous tous.
a master's degree in escape attempts.
de master en tentatives de fugue.
mais c'était long
had to learn how to swim.
apprendre à nager.
all these preparations in total secrecy.
had everything ready,
one afternoon and said,
que je suis dans la jungle
and I can't find the way out.
et je ne trouve pas la sortie.
en grand désordre
and we started marching.
on a commencé à marcher,
that Pincho had died,
que Pincho était mort,
because they were torture for me.
that rescued me from the jungle."
qui m'a sorti de la jungle. »
ni émotionnelle.
everything that we are --
nous avons tous besoin
we have inside of us
qui est en nous
raging around our boat.
sont passées
into the helicopter
avec les menottes,
sortis de la jungle,
as when they kidnapped me.
comme quand on nous a séquestrés.
avec la peur.
referendum in Colombia;
sur la paix en Colombie,
between Mexico and the United States;
et les États-Unis,
of using fear politically
d'être enrôlés,
our principles, unity, faith.
avons, nos principes, l'union, la foi.
de notre condition humaine
pour survivre.
chacun d'entre nous construit
the first time I felt fear,
la première fois que j'ai eu peur,
what to do with that fear.
de faire avec cette peur.
until you reach the stars,
haut, très haut,
veut arriver.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Ingrid Betancourt - Writer, peace advocateIngrid Betancourt was a presidential candidate in Colombia in 2002 when she was kidnapped by guerilla rebels. After six years in captivity and a high-profile rescue, she now writes about what she learned about fear, forgiveness and the divine.
Why you should listen
Born December 25, 1961, in Colombia, Ingrid Betancourt is a French-Colombian activist in the cause of freedom. She was a politician and presidential candidate in Colombia, celebrated for her determination to combat widespread corruption. In February 2002 she was taken hostage by the FARC, a communist guerrilla organization. For six and a half years, the FARC held her hostage in the Amazonian jungle. She was rescued on July 2, 2008.
Since her release, Betancourt has become a memoirist and fiction writer. Her first book, Even Silence Has Its End, which lyrically recounts her six years in the impenetrable jungle, was published in 2010. In 2016, she published a second work -- this time of fiction -- called The Blue Line, about the disappearances in Argentina during the Dirty War from 1976 to 1983.
Betancourt has received multiple international awards, including the French National Order of the Légion d’Honneur, the Spanish Prince of Asturias Prize of Concord, the Italian Prize Grinzane Cavour, and was nominated to the Nobel Peace Prize for her commitment to democratic values, freedom and tolerance.
Ingrid Betancourt | Speaker | TED.com