The recently freed Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt has urged an end to the Colombian government's "vocabulary of hate" against her former captors.
Okay, this isn't something that really snuck up on us: the Norrmalmstorg robbery was thirty-five years ago this August. Regardless, watching a captor's cause be mirrored in the mouth of a recent victim, and a politician no less, is always a little worrying.
On the other hand, Betancourt was already more than a little loopy. As the founder of the "Green Oxygen Party she was in favour of "an ecological conscience, social justice, participative democracy, non violence resolutions, human sustainability and respect for diversity" in Colombian politics. In other words, just another Marxist -- albeit one who didn't hang around in hills kidnapping folk.
One thing I can say about a right-winger captured by Marxist guerillas: I cannot guarantee no psychological transferance, but after the ordeal it is highly unlikely that they will decide that writing a play is a reasonable course of action after release.
Ms Betancourt has become a celebrity in France, and is due to receive a Legion of Honour medal from President Nicolas Sarkozy next week.
She has said that she plans to write a play about her experience of being held hostage by the left-wing rebels.
