Betancourt was arrogant and put lives in danger, claims US hostage

INGRID Betancourt, the politician held hostage by Farc rebels in the Colombian jungle for more than five years, has been attacked for her behaviour during captivity by a fellow prisoner.

The criticism comes in a new book written jointly by three US defence subcontractors who were also held by the Farc.

The trio, Keith Stansell, Marc Gonsalves and Thomas Howes, all contributed to Out of Captivity, detailing the period from their capture after their spy plane crash-landed in rebel territory, right up to their rescue last July by the Colombian military.

But what has generated most controversy is the depiction of Ms Betancourt, a French-Colombian politician, who has been a symbol of Colombia's kidnap victims. She has even been mooted as a possible Nobel Peace Prize candidate.

"I watched her try to take over the camp with an arrogance that was out of control," said Mr Stansell, 44, a former US marine. "Some of the guards treated us better than she did."

Segments of the book state that Ms Betancourt was haughty and self-absorbed, that she stole food and hoarded books, and even put the Americans' lives in danger by telling the rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) that they were CIA agents.

The other two hostages do not seem to share Mr Stansells's take on Ms Betancourt, however. Indeed, there are indications the glamorous 47-year old politician was a cause of strife not just between the Americans, but also the other male prisoners.

Mr Gonsalves, 36, a former US air force intelligence analyst, developed a close friendship with Ms Betancourt, which provoked jealously among the other captives. The pair remain in touch.

"She's a tough woman; she used to give those guerrillas a hard time," Mr Gonsalves said, adding that even though she was chained up all day after trying to escape, "I never saw her complain or cry about it".

There has been no comment from Ms Betancourt on the accusations. She is living in France to be with her children, Melanie and Lorenzo, and is working on her own book detailing the seven years she spent as a hostage. The Americans were captured by the Farc on 13 February, 2003, after crashing in the southern province of Caqueta.

The three were part of a five-man crew of a spy plane taking photographs of drugs fields and rebel camps. As they crawled from the wreckage, they were picked up by a Farc patrol. The pilot, Tommy Janis, and a Colombian army sergeant, Luis Alcedes Cruz, were shot and killed.

So began 1,967 days as captives, much of it conducted in mind-numbing boredom, swatting away mosquitoes, forced to march in chains to keep ahead of the pursuing Colombian security forces.

The men stayed fit by building primitive gyms wherever they stopped. To try to keep their minds occupied, Mr Gonsalves carved a chess set out of wood, but Mr Howes, 55, said the mental strain was relentless. "Our brains got calloused and we became mental prisoners," he said.

Their ordeal ended on 2 July last year. The Colombian intelligence services had penetrated the Farc's communications system and turned one of the messengers. They sent instructions to a man called Cesar, the Farc jailor, to get all 15 prisoners ready for a pick-up in a helicopter.

The ruse worked so well, that not only were all the hostages freed without a shot being fired, but Cesar and his number two also got on the helicopter. They are awaiting extradition to the US.