New Book: Even Silence Has an End

Ingrid Betancourt tells the story of her captivity in the Colombian jungle,
sharing powerful teachings of resilience, resistance, and faith.

Born in Bogotá, raised in France, Ingrid Betancourt at the age of
thirty-two gave up a life of comfort and safety to return to Colombia to become
a political leader in a country that was being slowly destroyed by terrorism,
violence, fear, and a pervasive sense of hopelessness. In 2002, while
campaigning as a candidate in the Colombian presidential elections, she was
abducted by the FARC. Nothing could have prepared her for what came next. She
would spend the next six and a half years in the depths of the jungle as a
prisoner of the FARC. Even Silence Has an End is her deeply personal and
moving account of that time. Chained day and night for much of her captivity,
she never stopped dreaming of escape and, in fact, succeeded in getting away
several times, always to be recaptured. In her most successful effort she and a
fellow captive survived a week away, but were caught when her companion became
desperately ill; she learned later that they had been mere miles from freedom.

The facts of her story are astounding, but it is Betancourt’s
indomitable spirit that drives this very special account, bringing life, nuance,
and profundity to the narrative. Attending as intimately to the landscape of her
mind as she does to the events of her capture and captivity, Even Silence Has
an End
is a meditation on the very stuff of life-fear and freedom, hope and
what inspires it. Betancourt tracks her metamorphosis, sharing how in the
routines she established for herself-listening to her mother and two children
broadcast to her over the radio, daily prayer-she was able to do the
unthinkable: to move through the pain of the moment and find a place of
serenity.

Freed in 2008 by the Colombian army, today Betancourt is
determined to draw attention to the plight of hostages and victims of terrorism
throughout the world and it is that passion that motivates Even Silence Has
an End
. The lessons she offers here-in courage, resilience, and humanity-are
gifts to treasure.

Even Silence Has an End: My Six Years of Captivity in the Colombian Jungle Ingrid Betancourt

Spread the love

More Articles for You

Other Inheritances: Scent Memories from a Childhood at Fat’s Pet Shop in East Harlem

Before I ever knew what a perfumer was or that someone could make a living decoding and remixing scent, I …

Spread the love

Ghosts of the Palisades: Threads between memories, places and time

Somewhere tucked away, high on the Palisades, on lovely, dead end street, in the ether of the internet and Google …

Spread the love

Eight Goodbyes: Love, Loss, and the Six Years That Changed Everything

The first to die that year, the year before COVID-19 changed everything, was my aunt, Ruth or “Chin” as we …

Spread the love

How DNA, Haplogroups, and Genetic Markers Reveal Taíno Heritage

The Genetic Echoes of the Taíno People The Taíno people, the first known inhabitants of the Caribbean, have long been …

Spread the love

Unearthing the Invisible in Ben Brisbois’ Banana Capital: Unpeeling the Layers of Capitalism and Racism

The banana. Simple, ubiquitous, and unassuming. Yet, as Ben Brisbois reveals in his forthcoming Banana Capital, it’s anything but ordinary. …

Spread the love

Ditching The Algorithm: Why I Joined Bluesky (And You Should Too)

For years, social media has been both a megaphone and an equalizer, a place where anyone can share art, advocate …

Spread the love