Ingrid Betancourt criticized Gustavo Petro for having Piedad Córdoba in the Historical Pact

During the first presidential debate, which took place on March 14, Ingrid Betancourt was one of the guests along with Federico Gutiérrez and Gustavo Petro. There, the candidate for the Green Oxygen party spoke about the proposals she has to win the presidency of Colombia.

The first thing he said was that the consultations were supported by the usual political machinery.

“It was evident that machinery has a lot of power. They are somehow reorganizing,” said Betancourt.

Likewise, the candidate criticized Gustavo Petro for accepting Piedad Córdoba into her ranks, as she claims it was a mistake. It should be recalled that some testimonies indicate that Córdoba had asked for the delay of the release of Ingrid - kidnapped by the FARC for more than 10 years - for political purposes.

“With all the evidence you have, you accept it among your ranks,” Betancourt questioned Gustavo Petro

He also reminded Petro of the possible alliance with the Liberal Party and César Gaviria: “I want to tell you that I am here so that Gustavo Petro does not put a rabbit on Colombia again.”

José Luis Esparza, a Colombian colonel in the reserve that commanded Operation Jaque, with which Ingrid Betancourt was rescued, will be the vice-presidential formula of this Colombian candidate, who registered her candidacy for the presidential elections on May 29 on Thursday.

Esparza, a 50-year-old officer in the active reserve of the National Army, is one of the most experienced military intelligence officers in the country, according to Betancourt's campaign, and his greatest achievement was commanding “the historic operation Check, which succeeded in the rescue of presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and 14 others abducted on 2 July 2008.”

“José Luis Esparza is an expert on how to free from captivity. I trust him, he's not a politician, he's a national hero. We need his experience, leadership and military intelligence to free Colombia from the corrupt,” Betancourt told the media, after registering his candidacy in the Registrar's Office.

Esparza said that the proposal was not expected, but that he agreed to “fight shoulder to shoulder in its fight against corrupt machinery in order to restructure the State for that purpose” and declared himself willing to “free Colombia from machinery and corruption.”

Betancourt left the Centro Esperanza Coalition, in which he decided to get involved in his return to Colombian politics, due to disputes with other pre-candidates, especially with former Minister of Health Alejandro Gaviria, whom he accused of joining “machinery”, and announced his solo candidacy to govern Colombia.

On February 23, 2002 Betancourt fell, in the jungle San Vicente del Caguán (Caquetá), into the hands of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a guerrilla that at that time was at its peak and dominated vast areas of the national territory.

On that day, Betancourt, then 40 years old and presidential candidate for the same party, was kidnapped along with her campaign manager, Clara Rojas, on their way to San Vicente del Caguán, which until hours earlier had hosted the failed peace talks of the government of the then president, Andrés Pastrana, with that guerrilla group.

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