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“One day in Paris, five people approached me on the street. They said they were Iranian. I was happy—until they started trying to convince me to distance myself from the Iranian Resistance,” recalls Ingrid Betancourt, former Colombian senator and presidential candidate, and a former hostage of the FARC guerrillas. “They said, ‘We’re not with the regime, we’re not with the Shah either—but the MEK, they’re a cult.’ I asked them who they were, and they vanished. They had no argument. Only slander.”
This wasn’t her first encounter with the regime’s disinformation machine, nor would it be the last. Over the years, Mrs. Betancourt has been a vocal supporter of the Iranian Resistance, particularly the NCRI and its President-elect Maryam Rajavi. But her path to that support, as she tells it, began with skepticism, shaped by her own traumatic past, and ultimately forged in truth.
At a February 2025 rally in Paris organized by the NCRI, Mrs. Betancourt stood with Iranian activists and declared 2025 a pivotal year: “The regime’s house of cards is collapsing. We must stand beside the Iranian people. They want nothing but the end of tyranny, and we will help make that happen.”
Why does @IBetancourtCol stand with Iran's Resistance? Watch her compelling interview on Simay Azadi where she details her investigation into the Iranian Resistance (PMOI) & confronts the regime's propaganda & lies spread against them. #FreeIran2025 pic.twitter.com/hCOivYvZKc
— SIMAY AZADI TV (@en_simayazadi) March 28, 2025
But behind that public stance is a personal journey—one marked by resistance to lies and a search for truth. In her remarks at a February 2023 conference in the French National Assembly, she recounted her early doubts. “After my release [from captivity], I was invited to a conference on Iran. I was frail, and when I supported the Resistance, I was buried in insults. It shook me. So, I decided to investigate. I read everything. I wanted to understand who they really were.”
What she found resonated deeply. “I saw that attacks against the Resistance often carried a tone I recognized—misogyny. They called it a cult because a woman led it. But I had been through that myself. As a woman in politics, I was accused of manipulating others, of being manipulated. The attacks on Maryam Rajavi felt very familiar.”
Mrs. Betancourt, who has spent over a decade standing with the NCRI, describes her bond with Mrs. Rajavi as personal. “We are both women who suffered. I admire that she never gave up. I want to see her where she belongs: in Iran, leading the transition to democracy.”
She also warned of the regime’s sophisticated campaign to smear the opposition internationally. “This isn’t just about Iran. The regime uses infiltration and disinformation to manipulate foreign governments and neutralize support for the Resistance. They know that recognition of the MEK would be as powerful as a nuclear weapon. It would mean: game over.”
During our exclusive interview with @IBetancourtCol she shared a very interesting experience of encountering those who blindly attack the Iranian opposition @Mojahedineng and @iran_policy. When asked what is “their” plan and alternative they were speechless! pic.twitter.com/T5i1UBXaea
— SIMAY AZADI TV (@en_simayazadi) February 8, 2025
In a July 2024 speech at the Free Iran World Summit, Mrs. Betancourt reaffirmed that message. She cited the NCRI’s role in exposing the regime’s nuclear weapons program, its record of human rights documentation, and its leadership in mobilizing Iranians inside and outside the country.
“Why do you think the regime spends so much to attack this movement? Because it’s working. Because it has support from more than 230 bipartisan U.S. lawmakers, over 500 British MPs, and thousands of parliamentarians and leaders worldwide.”
Ingrid Betancourt has faced terror and tyranny firsthand. But she’s also faced disinformation and beat it back with determination and clarity. Her message to Western governments is simple: Don’t be fooled. Recognize the Iranian Resistance. Stand with the truth.
“The lies didn’t deter me,” she says. “And if you listen to the truth, they won’t deter you either.”