Scouring Colombia for votes in its 2002 presidential election, French-Colombian politician and Colombian Senator Ingrid Betancourt was kidnapped by rebel-guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (known by the Spanish acronym FARC).

During her captivity--which lasted six and a half years--Betancourt became a symbol of endurance and courage. Suffering through morbid living conditions, illness and abuse, Betancourt tried to escape from the FARC soldiers on numerous occasions, but was unsuccessful. Finally in July of 2008 she and 14 others were freed in a daring helicopter rescue by the Colombian army.

"It was a miraculous moment. We were supposed to be in the hands of the FARC. And one of the guys who had came in the group with the helicopter took his white cap off and threw it in the air and said: 'We are the Colombian army. You are free.' That was very intense," recounts a teary-eyed Betancourt.

In her new book "Even Silence Has an End," Betancourt relives her life-changing ordeal while being held has a FARC prisoner. The video is an exclusive interview Betancourt did with the NewsHour's Margaret Warner.

Quotes

"Well, it was getting back to prehistorical times: no light, no running water, no toilets, no facilities, no privacy, no doors to shut, and only rice and beans to eat every day for six-and-a-half years, muddy water to drink." --Ingrid Betancourt, on the living conditions she experienced as a prisoner.

"I couldn't do anything to protect my body, but I had to do everything to protect my soul." --Ingrid Betancourt

"We were facing this freedom. And it was too big, too intense, too marvelous."