In the operation on Wednesday, Colombia’s military appears to have drawn inspiration from one of the FARC’s own most brazen actions, in which its combatants disguised themselves in 2002 as soldiers and abducted 13 lawmakers in Cali.

Six years later, Colombian agents infiltrated the FARC’s ranks and persuaded a guerrilla commander called Cesar to allow captives held in three groups to be united for a trip by helicopter to southern Colombia.

Betancourt suffered illnesses, pain and indignities during her captivity, but doggedly persisted in trying to escape. Toward the end of her six years as a hostage, Betancourt’s missives to the outside world showed signs of depression.

“I am tired of suffering, of carrying it within me every day, of lying to myself and of seeing that every day is the same hell as the one before,” she wrote in a 2007 letter to her mother, Yolanda Pulecio. In the letter Betancourt said, “These almost six years of captivity have shown me that I’m not as resistant, nor as brave, nor as intelligent, nor as strong as I had thought.”

SIX YEARS AS HOSTAGE

•Feb 23, 2002: French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt is kidnapped along with campaign chief Clara Rojas, by Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, while campaigning for president in southern Colombia

•Feb 13, 2003: An aerial counter-drug surveillance flight goes down with Americans Thomas Howes, Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell and Thomas Janis on board. Rescue teams find Janis shot to death

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