Ingrid Betancourt with her daughter, soon after her rescue

Ingrid Betancourt, the Colombian presidential candidate who was kidnapped by FARC rebels and held hostage for over six years until she was rescued in a dramatic military sting operation, has published a book called Even Silence has an End, on her experience that landed Tuesday amid a sea of controversy. As Sibylla Brodzinsky explains in a Christian Science Monitor report, “Even before it hit bookshelves, it had already caused controversy here amid outrage over her multimillion-dollar demand for damages from the Colombian state… But while many Colombians have vowed to boycott the new book, Betancourt’s literary style, gripping accounts of her life in jungle prisons, and profound reflections on the human condition may end up enticing many.”

So perhaps it’s no surprise that the book — published in 14 countries — has been an immediate hit in Colombia. But according to Brodzinsky, “not everyone believes her description of events. Clara Rojas, who was kidnapped with Betancourt in 2002, has claimed the book contains lies regarding Ms. Rojas’s decision to have a child while held captive. And Betancourt’s ex-husband, Juan Carlos Lecompte, was reportedly planning to sue for half the book’s proceeds.”

And in fact, according to an Associated Press wire story by Libardo Cardona, Betancourt’s ex Lecompte, who divorced Betancourt just a few months after her rescue, has indeed filed a motion “in Bogota family court seeking to freeze all of Betancourt’s assets” in Colombia and abroad. Lawyer Heli Abel Torrado said the assets include an apartment in Paris, a home in Wyoming and royalties from her memoir.”

In an interview with Der Spiegel, Betancourt discusses what happened to her marriage:

Betancourt: I was held prisoner and the only thing that I had was a small radio. I heard my mother every day, and my children twice a week, and since a letter of mine had been smuggled out, everyone knew that I could hear them. But I hardly ever heard my husband, at least not until he gave an interview, after two years, when he had written his first book. Then he said that he wanted his life back, and I realized what that meant. I didn’t expect him to live for years like a monk, but then he talked about his girlfriend and said: I didn’t have any children with Ingrid, she was always too busy. And when I meet the woman of my life, I’d like to have some. It was cruel. I sat there and felt that I had been replaced.

SPIEGEL: What was the reason for your separation?

Betancourt: When I stepped out of the aircraft after being freed, one of the first things that he asked me was if he could continue to live in my apartment. Then I knew that I had a problem.

Betancourt, who holds dual Colombian-French citizenship, was expected to return to Colombian politics but instead has split her time between Paris and New York. As the AP report notes,

She alienated many Colombians in July when they learned she had decided to seek more than $6 million in damages from the state. Betancourt later withdrew the petition for damages.

Some prominent Colombians accused her of being reckless by heading by road into the conflict zone where she was kidnapped. Betancourt contends the government bears responsibility because it denied her helicopter transport, stripped her of armed protection and didn’t insist she not attempt the journey.

Betancourt appears to harbor lingering resentments.

In an interview with the Bogota newspaper El Espectador on Sunday, she called Colombian society “cruel.”