COLOMBIA:INGRID BETANCOURT appears poised to relaunch a political career in Colombia following the euphoria of her liberation from six years' captivity in the jungle, write Rory Carrolland Sibylla Brodzinsky.
The former presidential candidate's deft handling of the limelight since last week's rescue has prompted a jump in her approval ratings and speculation that she could become a cabinet minister or run again for the presidency.
Ms Betancourt's composure and eloquence have impressed voters and belied the fact that she was largely cut off from the outside world as a hostage of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).
In interviews, Ms Betancourt (46) has kept all options open.
"I want to be available for Colombia," she said.
"I don't know whether a presidential candidacy is the best option. I think there are other means to serve my country and perhaps in a more effective way."
Doctors in France, where the French-Colombian mother of two has been received with jubilation, have meanwhile given her a clean bill of health.
She said she would return to Colombia in the next few days because her "destiny" lay there.
Ms Betancourt told the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche that she would write not a memoir about her ordeal but a play. "When I was in captivity, I said to myself: 'People need to understand this, but I can't just write it down the way it happened.' So I'll write a play."
When Ms Betancourt was abducted while on the campaign trail in 2002, she was a combative anti-corruption and anti-establishment candidate with a 24 per cent approval rating, far behind her conservative rival, Alvaro Uribe, who won the presidency. - (Guardian service)