Former FARC Hostage Ingrid Betancourt Now Vying for President’s Seat in Colombia
Former presidential candidate, French-Colombian Ingrid Betancourt, who was kidnapped by the FARC since 2002 to 2008, poses in Madrid on September 13, 2021. - Former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Ingrid Betancourt today presented their book "Una conversacion Pendiente" ("A pending conversation") in Madrid. GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images

Former Colombian Senator Ingrid Betancourt has announced that she will be running for president again in Colombia after being held captive for over six years by left-wing rebels Farc.

Betancourt was campaigning in the 2002 presidential election when she was abducted by Farc rebels and was held hostage for years, according to a BBC News report.

The former Colombian senator has promised to address corruption and poverty if she wins the presidential election in Colombia.

She told her supporters in Bogota that she will finish what she started, adding that she will claim the rights of 51 million Colombians who are not finding justice as the people live in a system "designed to reward criminals."

Sergio Guzmán, an analyst in Bogotá, described Betancourt as the country's "reconciliation candidate."

Betancourt called the peace deal "a window" to leave behind the violence that was experienced by all during an interview with The Times last year.

Guzman said that the question is whether that is what Colombians want, according to The New York Times report.

Ingrid Betancourt Presidential Candidate in Colombia

Guzman said that elections in Colombia have been "fear and hope and hate," noting that no election has really been fought on compassion and reconciliation.

Guzman rhetorically asked if Betancourt can be "a balm" to those continuing negative emotions that people are feeling right now. He said that Betancourt needs to sell the idea that reconciliation is better than populism.

In Colombia, there are currently more than 20 candidates for the president's seat. Most of the best-known candidates are grouped into three coalitions, which are a coalition on the left, a coalition in the center, and a coalition on the right.

The left is led by Gustavo Petro, who was a member of the revolutionary guerilla group M-19 in the 1980s.

Betancourt will be leading the center, while the coalition on the right is led by those members of the current government.

Meanwhile, the most prominent female presidential candidate has been Francia Marquez, a young Afro-Colombian politician and environmental activist who is also a victim of the war.

Marquez was known for her outspoken embrace of feminist politics while openly criticizing Petro.

Ingrid Betancourt's Kidnapping

Betancourt spent six years in guerilla camps in the Amazon jungle, where sometimes rebel fighters would tie her to a tree with metal chains to prevent her from escaping, according to The Guardian report.

She asked officials to investigate the events that led to her own kidnapping, as shown in her proof of life videos.

In those videos, she also pleaded with the government to resume peace talks with the Farc rebels. Those were aired widely in Colombia and abroad.

The former Colombian senator withdrew from public life after she was freed and spent much of her time with family in France. She returned to the political scene last year as the country nears elections that will be held in May.

She was treated brutally during her six years of captivity before Colombian army spies inside the Farc rebels and organized her rescue in July 2008.

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Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Colombia's Ingrid Betancourt announces presidential bid - from Al Jazeera English