If you did not get to read this book, and are till considering adding it to your shelf, take a look at some of this....
Ingrid Betancourt's book was really very interesting for our group for a lot of reasons:
It is a story of a female politician, and in her story there are hints as to what it is like to exist as a woman in this highly masculine world. Some of the judgments about her character, her attitude, and her decisions really clarify some of the complexities inherent in such a position. Many people believed the idea that she was naive about the dangers of the area where she was kidnapped- perhaps it was easier to believe because she is a woman (and also because of her wealth and protected background) but her book really challenges such a simplistic explanation- she is a really smart woman, after all, who was running a serious campaign to be president of the country. Some of the publicly expressed anger at her 'arrogance' and 'difficult' nature can also perhaps be seen in terms of the double binds that women often face as they begin to compete in traditionally masculine arenas, such as political or business leadership.
As a woman, her experience of being a long-term hostage leads us to insights that we may not have gained from a male hostage (and there are those accounts, by two American hostages who were held captive with Betancourt and they clearly did not get along with her all the time, or see things the same way). Because of her perspective, we do get a more complete understanding not only of what it is like to be held captive in these circumstances, but also what the social dynamics are among the rebels. For example, Betancourt noticed how the sexual politics of the FARC guerrillas conflict with their ideology of solidarity in struggle: young women were expected to prove their commitment to the cause in part by accepting the sexual advances of their commanders, they weren't treated as equals. She also pulls us into her own personal experience as a daughter whose father dies when she is hostage, and as a mother whose children grow from teenagers into adults while she is suspended in a kind of limbo, only able to hear the deepening of her son's voice on radio broadcasts. You can hear more from Betancourt about this part of the experience in an interview she did with Amy Goodman, in two parts:
Part One
Part Two
A really insightful element of the book is found in the many sections where Betancourt describes what it is like to be threatened with the loss of ones humanity, how her captors use language and deprivation of basic resources to do that, and what she did to combat these dehumanizing forces. The really thoughtful and detailed descriptions of her experiences in the jungle bring to life how overwhelming captivity can be. Particularly interesting to consider are the similarities in experiences of kids incarcerated for life without the chance of parole, people in refugee camps, kids abducted to serve in the military, or foreign domestic servants who are held captive by their employers. In these situations, there are also these issues of isolation from society, inability to choose your work/do productive work, uncertainty about the future, the loss of privacy, loss of control over basic personal decisions, and high threat of violence. Consider HRW's work on some of these issues:
Juvenile live without parole
Forced removal of refugees in Sudan
Child solders in Uganda
Migrant domestic workers
The main challenge for several members of the book club was a lack of contextual knowledge about Colombia and FARC. Here are some links to learn more.
This Washington Post article outlines the current challenges regarding the rural poor in Colombia. Consider also the link between poverty and recruitment practices of rebel groups and government military, especially for children and young people.
HRW has three reports, outlining the guerrilla's use of landmines (2007), the mafia-like structure of the paramilitaries (2008), and the violent successor groups to the paramilitaries (2010), as well as news of the recent abduction and killing of a Governor.
Another really interesting perspective comes from the facebook movement, One Million Voices against FARC, started by a young professional and his friends, outraged the news about a boy who was born to a woman in captivity and abandoned by the FARC in terrible conditions. There is a great synopsis and a video of Oscar, the founder, here. People went into the streets in cities across the globe to protest, although there were still arguments over the tactic of street protests.
Finally, the NYTimes has a great section on FARC, with a lot of information in articles, book reviews, videos and photos. Particularly useful is the timeline, which starts with the founding of FARC in 1975, the start of peace talks in 1999, their failure, Betancourt's kidnapping, and more.
Happy reading!
