(Bloomberg) -- Ingrid Betancourt launched a run for Colombia’s presidency, two decades after a previous bid for the country’s top job ended with her being kidnapped by Marxist guerrillas and held captive in the jungle for six years.
Betancourt -with her Green Oxygen party- joins a group of center-left candidates, known as the Center Hope Coalition, that will hold a primary in March to choose who runs in the May presidential elections. Former Medellin Mayor Sergio Fajardo, who has placed second in recent polls in the presidential race, is also part of the group.
“Exactly twenty years ago I was kidnapped as a presidential candidate, when I was campaigning against the same corrupt system,” Betancourt, 60, said Tuesday in a press conference broadcast from Bogota. “Today I am here to finish what I started.”
The French-Colombian politician was kidnapped by guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, in 2002 as she attempted to travel through a rebel-controlled area during her campaign. She was rescued, along with three U.S. hostages and 11 others, in a military operation in 2008.
The FARC laid down their arms five years ago after signing a peace deal with the government.
After recovering her freedom, Betancourt has spent most of her time in France. But now she says she is back in Colombia, adding a female presence to the coalition whose other candidates are all men.
Polls show that former Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro, who wants to tax the rich and phase out oil and coal, is currently leading the presidential race.
Colombia, unlike other Latin American countries including Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Costa Rica has never had a woman president.
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