Bogota - The medical situation of Ingrid Betancourt, the
one-time Colombian presidential candidate who has been held hostage
for more than six years by rebels, has deteriorated considerably and
is 'very very serious,' officials say.
The government's emissary for human rights, Volmar Perez, said
Betancourt suffers from Hepatitis B as well as so-called black fever,
carried by sand flies that causes painful skin lesions, thet
newspaper El Espectador reported Thursday.
The 46-year-old woman has been brought at least twice since
February to health clinics in small villages in the province Guaviare
in the south-east of the country, the newspaper said.
Perez was confirming earlier reports about Betancourt's situation.
Her problems have apparently not been treated.
Hepatitis can cause permanent liver damage and death. Betancourt
also has French citizenship and has become a cause celebre in France.
It was urgent to get medicines to her, Perez said. At the same
time, he appealed to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia
(FARC) to release her and the other hostages, who number in the
hundreds.
FARC is believed to have held at least 740 people over a long
period of time, many years. FARC wants to exchange about 40 of them -
military, police and politicians - for 500 imprisoned rebels.
But the government of conservative President Alvaro Uribe and FARC
have been unable for years to agree on the conditions at well as the
place for the exchange.
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