Ingrid Betancourt to be Church of Sweden’s guest at the Göteborg Book Fair

 Ingrid Betancourt. Photo: Melanie Delloye.

Ingrid Betancourt was held captive by FARC guerrillas in Colombia for over six years. This autumn, the Colombian politician will be the Church of Sweden’s guest for the Se Människan [See the Person] programme at the Göteborg Book Fair.

The book Even Silence Has an End was released in Swedish last year and is now available in paperback. In the book, Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt describes the years she was held captive by FARC guerrillas:

“When you’re chained by the neck to a tree, and deprived of all freedom—the freedom to move around, to talk, to eat, to drink, to carry out your most basic bodily needs—well, it took me several years to realize it, but you still have the most important freedom of all, which no one can take away from you: that is the freedom to choose what kind of person you want to be.”

“Her story is a shocking read, but also a fascinating portrait of her own and her fellow prisoners’ struggle for human dignity. Ingrid Betancourt describes how she lives and struggles with her beliefs for six years as a prisoner in the Amazon jungle,” says Mikael Ringlander, project manager for the Church of Sweden’s Se Människan initiative, which, together with the Göteborg Book Fair, is inviting Ingrid Betancourt to speak.

Ingrid Betancourt was born in Bogotá in 1961 but grew up in France. She returned to Colombia at the age of 32 to be a political leader of the Green Party in a country gradually being destroyed by fear, violence, terrorism and corruption - a hopeless country. During the 2002 election campaign, she was captured by the Marxist FARC guerrillas.

“It is with great pleasure that Se Människan and the Göteborg Book Fair welcome Ingrid Betancourt to the book fair this autumn. She will be participating in a seminar and on the Se Människan stage,” says Mikael Ringlander.

Press pictures of Ingrid Betancourt are available at http://bilder.norstedts.se/index2.aspx

The Göteborg Book Fair will be held on 27-30 September at Svenska Mässan in Gothenburg.