Reunion and Celebration
Sarkozy sent a French Air Force jet with Betancourt's children, her sister Astrid and her family, and accompanied by Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner for a tearful reunion. After paying her respects at her father's tomb she and the family boarded the jet and flew to France where she was greeted by Sarkozy and the First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. She gave speeches and urged the world not to forget and continue for the liberation of the rest of the hostages. She also spent several days in hospital.
On July 9, President Michelle Bachelet of Chile said she would nominate Betancourt for a Nobel Prize. Sarkozy announced that she would receive the Legion of Honor at the Bastille Day celebrations.
On July 20, Betancourt appeared next to singer Juanes at a rally in Trocadéro in Paris to celebrate Colombia's independence day and to once more urge the FARC to release all their hostages. Speaking directly to Alfonso Cano she said:
See this Colombia, see the extended hand of President Uribe, and understand that it is time to stop the bloodshed. It is time to drop those weapons and change them for roses, substitute them with tolerance, respect, and as brothers that we are, find a way so that we can all live together in the world, live together in Colombia."Read more about this topic: Íngrid Betancourt
Famous quotes containing the word celebration:
“Sweet weight,
in celebration of the woman I am
and of the soul of the woman I am
and of the central creature and its delight
I sing for you. I dare to live.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)