Ingrid Betancourt, right, looks at her mother, Yolanda Pulecio, after her arrival at Catam military airport in Bogota, on July 2, 2008. Ms Betancourt, three Americans and 11 other hostages were rescued from leftist guerrillas. Leonardo Suarez / Reuters
PARIS // Ingrid Betancourt, the French-Colombian politician held captive by guerrillas in the Amazon jungle, woke up a free woman on Thursday for the first time in more than six years.
om the presidential palace in Paris, her voice trembling with emotion.

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Thursday hailed a Colombian rescue operation that freed former politician Ingrid Betancourt, three Americans and 11 other hostages from the hands of Marxist rebels.
"We are overjoyed at the liberation of those people," Chavez said, following nearly a day of unusual silence after the rescue was announced.
o attend China Olympics opening ceremonies

Ingrid Betancourt, left, the French-Colombian politician who was held hostage by leftist guerrillas embraced her daughter, Melanie, upon her arrival at a

By Hugh Schofield Ask any French person where Ingrid Betancourt is from and they will tell you that she is half-Colombian and half-French.