Clara Rojas: "The FARC is a group that is far from reality"
Diario Libre
SANTO DOMINGO.- For nearly six years Clara Rojas was kidnapped. After having a child in captivity and being freed in January 2007 by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the Colombian lawyer wrote her story. In Captive, Rojas talks about what happened during that period, the challenges, the escape attempts and her friendship with the former Colombian presidential candidate, Ingrid Betancourt.
Q: After the behavior of Ingrid Betancourt during the kidnapping of you both, how would you define loyalty?
A: I still think the same, that loyalty is a feeling that is born spontaneously and brings with it an important level of obligation. It is a value, like friendship, honor, honesty, dignity. Each person defines to whom or who to be loyal to.
Q: After having spent nearly six years of your life with the FARC, what opinion do you have of them? Do you think their revolution is just?
A: I spent six years of my life kidnapped by the FARC. I think of them as I have said many times, it is a group that is outside the law, it is autistic. It remains in the jungle and is far from world reality, far from the country, and far from the people. It should re-think their supposed revolution and look for a dialogue and for national reconciliation.
Q: Do you blame Ingrid Betancourt for the failure of two of the escape attempts? Do you think she blames you for what happened?
A: For the failures of the escape attempts, I do not blame anyone. I tell of the facts and analyze the consequences. Today my sight is on the present and of course on the future, which I see with optimism.
Q: Before being kidnapped your life was governed by the clock, time was never enough. In captivity you had to create a routine, Now that you are free, what is your routine?
A: In freedom, for a year and a half, I try and take advantage and enjoy the time. I like to get up early, I read, I write, I practice sports, I get my son ready for school, I read. Some afternoons, I go with my son to his physical therapy sessions. I try and take life as normal as I can. I meet with friends and family. I fulfill all of the obligations of the publishers and I work for the liberation of the people that are still kidnapped. I also give conferences on issues of self-help and personal betterment.
Q: Could Operation Emmanuel have been carried out if the journalist Jorge Enrique Botero had not written the book "Latest news from the war"?
A: Operation Emmanuel took place for several reasons, among others for the decision of senator Piedad Cordoba, of President Hugo Chavez, and of President Alvaro Uribe to listen to the clamor of the relatives of so many kidnapped people, among them by mother. Also because they listened to the testimony of the policeman Pinchao, who, like Botero, reported about my son; but also because he dared to say that his name was Emmanuel. Likewise, in this operation the international community took part, including the former Argentine President and the International Red Cross. In this operation a whole set of persons took part.
Q: This experience that you lived in captivity and that permitted you to have your son Emmanuel, was this consensual or not?
A: I decided from the first moment not to discuss anything about the conception of my son.
"Loyalty bursts forth. It is a value, like friendship, honesty, dignity. Each person to whom or who to be loyal."
Q: After the behavior of Ingrid Betancourt during the kidnapping of you both, how would you define loyalty?
A: I still think the same, that loyalty is a feeling that is born spontaneously and brings with it an important level of obligation. It is a value, like friendship, honor, honesty, dignity. Each person defines to whom or who to be loyal to.
Q: After having spent nearly six years of your life with the FARC, what opinion do you have of them? Do you think their revolution is just?
A: I spent six years of my life kidnapped by the FARC. I think of them as I have said many times, it is a group that is outside the law, it is autistic. It remains in the jungle and is far from world reality, far from the country, and far from the people. It should re-think their supposed revolution and look for a dialogue and for national reconciliation.
Q: Do you blame Ingrid Betancourt for the failure of two of the escape attempts? Do you think she blames you for what happened?
A: For the failures of the escape attempts, I do not blame anyone. I tell of the facts and analyze the consequences. Today my sight is on the present and of course on the future, which I see with optimism.
Q: Before being kidnapped your life was governed by the clock, time was never enough. In captivity you had to create a routine, Now that you are free, what is your routine?
A: In freedom, for a year and a half, I try and take advantage and enjoy the time. I like to get up early, I read, I write, I practice sports, I get my son ready for school, I read. Some afternoons, I go with my son to his physical therapy sessions. I try and take life as normal as I can. I meet with friends and family. I fulfill all of the obligations of the publishers and I work for the liberation of the people that are still kidnapped. I also give conferences on issues of self-help and personal betterment.
Q: Could Operation Emmanuel have been carried out if the journalist Jorge Enrique Botero had not written the book "Latest news from the war"?
A: Operation Emmanuel took place for several reasons, among others for the decision of senator Piedad Cordoba, of President Hugo Chavez, and of President Alvaro Uribe to listen to the clamor of the relatives of so many kidnapped people, among them by mother. Also because they listened to the testimony of the policeman Pinchao, who, like Botero, reported about my son; but also because he dared to say that his name was Emmanuel. Likewise, in this operation the international community took part, including the former Argentine President and the International Red Cross. In this operation a whole set of persons took part.
Q: This experience that you lived in captivity and that permitted you to have your son Emmanuel, was this consensual or not?
A: I decided from the first moment not to discuss anything about the conception of my son.
"Loyalty bursts forth. It is a value, like friendship, honesty, dignity. Each person to whom or who to be loyal."
Diario Libre
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