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Íngrid Betancourt

Íngrid Betancourt Pulecio (born 25 December 1961) is a Colombian politician, former senator and anti-corruption activist, especially opposing political corruption.

Betancourt was kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on 23 February 2002 while campaigning for the Colombian presidency as a Green candidate, and was rescued by Colombian security forces six and a half years later on 2 July 2008. The rescue operation, dubbed Operation Jaque, rescued Betancourt along with 14 other hostages (three United States citizens, and 11 Colombian policemen and soldiers). She had decided to campaign in the former "zone of dissention", after the military operation "Tanatos" was launched, and after the zone was declared free of guerrillas by the government. Her kidnapping received worldwide coverage, particularly in France, where she also held citizenship due to her prior marriage to a French diplomat.

Betancourt received multiple international awards in 2008 at her liberation, such as the Légion d'honneur or the Concord Prince of Asturias Award. After her release, she was portrayed by some of her fellow captives as "controlling and manipulative"; others described her as "caring" and "courageous". One of them (Luis Eladio Pérez) claims Betancourt saved his life.

On 18 January 2022, she announced her candidacy for the 2022 Colombian presidential election in which she finished seventh.

Biography
Betancourt was born in Bogotá, Colombia. Her mother, Yolanda Pulecio, a former beauty queen famous for sheltering abandoned children, served in Congress, representing poor southern neighborhoods of Bogotá. Betancourt's father, Gabriel Betancourt, was a minister of Education in both liberal and conservative governments (those of President Rojas Pinilla and President Lleras Restrepo), the assistant director of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), then ambassador of Colombia to UNESCO in Paris, and head of the education commission of the Alliance for Progress in Washington, D.C. under John F. Kennedy. Betancourt's mother Yolanda is of Italian descent.

After attending private school in France, a boarding school in England, and the Liceo Francés in Bogotá, Betancourt attended the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris (commonly known as Sciences Po). As of April 2017, she was a doctoral student in theology at Harris Manchester College, Oxford.

Betancourt married French citizen Fabrice Delloye in 1983, and they had two children, Mélanie (born 1985) and Lorenzo (born 1988). Through her marriage she became a French citizen. Her husband served in the French diplomatic corps, and the couple lived in multiple countries, including Ecuador, the Seychelles, and the United States of America.

In the mid-1990s, Betancourt and Delloye divorced. Betancourt returned to Colombia and became advisor to the Minister of Finance and later to the Minister of Foreign Trade. In 1994, she was elected to the House of Representatives on an anticorruption ticket, and in 1998 she entered the Colombian Senate. Her children, Melanie and Lorenzo, moved to New Zealand to live with their father due to death threats stemming from Betancourt's political activities.

Betancourt married Colombian advertising executive Juan Carlos Lecompte in 1997. Their marriage ended soon after her 2008 rescue.

Political career
In 1989, Luis Carlos Galán, a candidate for the Colombian presidency running on an anti-drug-trafficking platform, was assassinated. Betancourt's mother was a supporter of Galán, and she was standing immediately behind him when he was shot dead. This event motivated Betancourt to return to Colombia in 1989. From 1990 onward, Betancourt worked at the Ministry of Finance and later at the Ministry of Foreign Trade, from which she later resigned to enter politics. Her first campaign distributed condoms, with the motto that people should protect themselves against corruption as they do against HIV. She obtained support from the so-called "opinion voters", mostly young people and women.

Election to the Chamber of Representatives, 1994
Betancourt was elected to the Chamber of Representatives in 1994, against all odds. During her term, she criticized the administration of President Ernesto Samper, who was accused of corruption in the 8000 Process scandal after accepting money from the Cali drug cartel for his electoral campaign. In 1997, Betancourt launched a political party, the Partido Verde Oxigeno (Green Oxygen Party), as an alternative to the traditional conservative and liberal parties.

Elected Senator of Colombia, 1998
Betancourt ran for senator in the 1998 election, and the total number of votes she received was the largest of any candidate in a senate election. During her time in elected office, death threats caused her to send her children to New Zealand, where they would live with their father.

That same year, the presidential election was ultimately won by Andrés Pastrana. Pastrana persuaded Betancourt to endorse him, and she campaigned for him under the agreement of an anticorruption electoral reform to be adopted during his presidential term. The electoral reform was aborted due to strong pressures from the traditional parties and lack of commitment from the government. Betancourt withdrew her support of the government and joined the opposition forces.

Presidential candidate, 2002
Betancourt launched her presidential campaign on 20 May 2001, while standing next to a statue of Simón Bolívar in Bogotá. She then began a campaign bus trip around the country to attend local community meetings.

As part of her campaign for the presidency in 2002, Betancourt decided to visit the town of San Vicente del Caguán, in the demilitarized zone (DMZ), to support its mayor, a member of the Green Oxygen party. The peace process with the FARC had collapsed, the DMZ had been put to an end, and Pastrana had launched "Operacion Tanatos" to reclaim the area. At the time Betancourt decided to go, the Colombian Army had been deployed in the area in an attempt to evict the FARC guerillas. President Pastrana had given them 48 hours to leave the territory, and the deadline had expired. That same day President Pastrana attended a press conference in San Vicente del Caguan, in order to prove with his presence that the FARC had fled and that the military operation was a success. At the same time, the government ordered Betancourt's bodyguards to abandon the mission of escorting her to San Vicente del Caguan.

Nonetheless, Betancourt was determined to go. Despite the army's refusal to airlift her into San Vicente, she decided to drive and was given a government vehicle. The government later claimed that Betancourt had signed a document to release the government from any responsibility for what could happen to her. Clara Rojas, Adair Lamprea, and Betancourt have denied the existence of such a document. The document has never been produced by any Colombian official.

The peace talks reached an impasse after more than three years of negotiations. From the beginning, the FARC would not agree to a truce for the duration of the negotiations, nor would they agree that the peace talks be overseen by different representatives of the international community. Though the DMZ was purported to be a "laboratory for peace", in practice the FARC continued its kidnapping activities, military attacks, purchasing of weapons, and even building of roads and airstrips for trafficking narcotics. Critics considered the DMZ to have been turned into a safe haven in which the FARC imposed its will as law, launching military attacks and acts of terrorism outside the DMZ before withdrawing back to it, in order to avoid direct confrontation with government armed forces. Also during this time, hundreds of civilians were kidnapped throughout different cities and rural areas of the country. They were then transported back to the DMZ, where they were kept in cages, many of them having been kidnapped for economic extortion, others for "political reasons". By the end of 2001, the Colombian government and public opinion (according to different polls) were growing impatient and discouraged regarding the situation.

In February 2002, a turboprop plane flying from Florencia to Bogotá—a distance of some 1000 km—was hijacked in midair by FARC members and forced to land on a highway strip near the city of Neiva, and then a member of the Colombian Congress was kidnapped. As a consequence, President Andrés Pastrana canceled the talks with the FARC and revoked the DMZ, arguing that the FARC had betrayed the terms of the negotiation and had used the DMZ to grow stronger in military and logistical capabilities. In a televised statement, the president expressed the government's intention of retaking the DMZ, advising that the military operation would begin at midnight. He also urged the FARC to respect the lives and the livelihood of those civilians still present in the DMZ.

Autobiography
After her experience in the impeachment process against Colombian President E. Samper, Betancourt published her memoirs, in French, in March 2001, under the title La rage au cœur. The book generated intense media coverage in France, where it was the number one best seller for four weeks and a best seller for another nine. It has since appeared in Spanish as La rabia en el corazón and in English as Until Death Do Us Part: My Struggle to Reclaim Colombia (2002).

Kidnapping
Most candidates for political office visited the former DMZ. When Betancourt announced her trip, the government confirmed that a security escort would accompany her from Florencia to San Vicente del Caguan. When she landed at Florencia's airport, she received an offer to be transported to San Vicente del Caguan in a military helicopter. This offer was later retracted, and at the same time her bodyguards received the order to cancel their mission. President Pastrana and other officials explained they had turned down the helicopter ride offer, arguing that this meant rendering public resources to Betancourt's private political interests. Betancourt stated that the government had, under constitutional provisions, the obligation of protecting any Colombian running for presidency, which included her.

When denied transport aboard a military helicopter that was heading to the DMZ, Betancourt revisited the original plan to travel there via ground transport, together with Clara Rojas, her campaign manager who was later named running mate for the 2002 election, and a handful of political aides. On 23 February 2002, Betancourt was stopped at the last military checkpoint before going into the former DMZ. Military officers have reported they insisted on stopping her car, and that Betancourt dismissed their warnings and continued her journey. These allegations contradict the testimony of Adair Lamprea, who was driving the car. He insists traffic was normal and the military officers at the checkpoint asked for their ID but did not try to stop them. This is corroborated by the fact that on the FARC roadblock where Betancourt was kidnapped, other vehicles were stopped, including a Red Cross four-wheel-drive car and a bus, which comprised normal traffic. According to Betancourt's kidnapper, Nolberto Uni Vega (after his capture), Betancourt ended up at a FARC checkpoint, where she was kidnapped. Her kidnapping was not planned beforehand, said the rebel. Despite her abduction, Betancourt still appeared on the ballot for the presidential elections; her husband promised to continue her campaign. She received less than 1% of the votes.

Betancourt stated in an NPR interview that the government did offer to fly her but later reneged and took away her flight and then took away her bodyguards. She also stated she was never warned that it would be dangerous to travel by road, that checkpoints let her through with no warning or attempt to stop her, and that the government encouraged her to travel by road.

Uribe's initial policy
Ever since the days of the Pastrana negotiations, when a limited exchange took place, the FARC have demanded the formalization of a mechanism for prisoner exchange. The mechanism would involve the release of what the FARC terms its "political hostages" in exchange for most jailed guerrillas, numbering about 500. For the FARC, most of its other hostages, those held for extortion purposes and which would number at least a thousand, would not be considered subject to such an exchange.

The newly elected Uribe administration initially ruled out any negotiation with the group that would not include a ceasefire, and instead pushed for rescue operations, many of which have traditionally been successful when carried out by the police's GAULA anti-kidnapping group in urban settings, but not in the mountains and jungles where the FARC keeps most prisoners, according to official statistics and mainstream news reports.

Relatives of Betancourt and of most of FARC's hostages strongly rejected any potential rescue operations, especially after the death of the governor of the Antioquia department, Guillermo Gaviria, his peace advisor and several soldiers, kidnapped by the FARC during a peace march in 2003. The governor and the others were shot at close range by the FARC in May 2003 when the government launched an army rescue mission into the jungle which failed as the guerrillas learned of the troops' presence in the area.

2002
A day after Betancourt's kidnapping several non-governmental organizations (NGO) under the lead of Armand Burguet were organized in the European Union and around the world to establish an association or committee for the liberation of Ingrid Betancourt. The committee initially consisted of some 280 activists in 39 countries.

One month after her kidnapping, her father Gabriel died of heart and respiratory trouble.

2003
In July 2003 Opération 14 juillet was launched, which both failed to liberate Betancourt and caused a scandal for the French government. A video of Betancourt was released by FARC in August 2003.

2004
In August 2004, after several false-starts and in the face of mounting pressure from relatives, former Liberal presidents Alfonso López Michelsen and Ernesto Samper (who was accused in the 'Proceso 8000' for financing his presidential campaign with drug funds) came out in favor of a humanitarian exchange. The Uribe government, seeming to have gradually relaxed its position, announced that it had given the FARC a formal proposal on 23 July, in which it offered to free 50 to 60 jailed rebels in exchange for the political and military hostages held by the FARC group (not including economic hostages, as the government had earlier demanded).

The government would make the first move, releasing insurgents charged or condemned for rebellion and either allowing them to leave the country or to stay and join the state's reinsertion program. Then the FARC would release the hostages in its possession, including Ingrid Betancourt. The proposal would have been carried out with the backing and support of the French and Swiss governments, who publicly supported it once it was revealed.

The move was signaled as potentially positive by several relatives of the victims and Colombian political figures. Some critics of the president have considered that Uribe may seek to gain political prestige from such a move, though they would agree with the project in practice.

The FARC released a communiqué dated 20 August (but apparently published publicly only on 22 August) in which they denied having received the proposal earlier through the mediation of Switzerland as the government had stated. While making note of the fact that a proposal had been made by the Uribe administration and that it hoped that common ground could eventually be reached, the FARC criticized the offer because they believe that any deal should allow them to decide how many of its jailed comrades would be freed and that they should be allowed to return to the rebel ranks.

On 5 September, what has been considered as a sort of FARC counter proposal was revealed in the Colombian press. The FARC proposed that the government declare a "security" or "guarantee" zone for 72 hours in order for official insurgent and state negotiators to meet face to face and directly discuss a prisoner exchange. Government military forces would not have to leave the area but to concentrate in their available garrisons, in a similar move to that agreed by the Ernesto Samper administration (1994–1998) which involved the group freeing some captured security forces. In addition, the government's peace commissioner would have to make an official public pronouncement regarding this proposal.

If the zone were created, the first day would be used for traveling to the chosen location, the second to discuss the matter, and the third for the guerrillas to abandon the area. The government would be able to choose the location for the "security zone" from among the municipalities of Peñas Coloradas, El Rosal or La Tuna, all in Caquetá department, where the FARC had influence.

The FARC proposal to arrange a meeting with the government was considered as positive by Yolanda Pulecio, Betancourt's mother, who called it a sign of "progress […] just as the (government) commissioner can meet with (right-wing) paramilitaries, why can't he meet with the others, who are just as terrorist as they are."

2006
In February 2006, France urged the FARC to seize the chance offered by a European-proposed prisoner swap, accepted by Bogotá, and free dozens it had held for up to seven years. Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said it was "up to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to show they were serious about releasing former Colombian presidential candidate Íngrid Betancourt and other detainees."

In an interview with French newspaper L'Humanité in June 2006, Raul Reyes, a leader of the FARC, said that Betancourt "is doing well, within the environment she finds herself in. It's not easy when one is deprived of freedom."

2007
In May 2007, a captured Colombian National Police sub-intendant, Jhon Frank Pinchao, escaped from FARC captivity, and claimed that Betancourt was being held in the same prison camp he had been in. On 18 May, President Álvaro Uribe reiterated his orders for the rescue by military means of Betancourt and other political figures.

Shortly after taking office in mid-May, French President Nicolas Sarkozy asked Uribe to release FARC's "chancellor" Rodrigo Granda in exchange for Betancourt.

On 4 June 30 incarcerated members from the FARC were liberated as a goodwill gesture by the government to pursue the liberation of Betancourt and others. However this did not result in her freedom.

On 26 July, Melanie Delloye, Betancourt's daughter, reported two French diplomats had been unsuccessful in confirming that she was still alive according to news agency EFE. President Sarkozy affirmed this to the press. However former hostage Pinchao repeated that Betancourt was alive, and had attempted to escape several times from the FARC camp where both were held, but had been recaptured and "severely punished".

In August 2007, reporter Patricia Poleo, a Venezuelan national self-exiled in the United States, stated that Betancourt was being held in Venezuela and that her release was near. The government of Colombia expressed doubts about this information through its minister of foreign affairs Fernando Araújo. Poleo also criticized Hugo Chávez for using this situation to improve relations with France after an impasse with the government of Jacques Chirac in which they refused to sell arms to Venezuela. A few days after Poleo's statements, President Chávez openly offered his services to negotiate between the FARC and the government in an effort to release those kidnapped, but denied knowing about the whereabouts of Betancourt.

On 11 November 2007, Chávez told French newspaper Le Figaro that he hoped to be able to show Sarkozy proof before their meeting on 20 November that Betancourt was alive, while on 18 November Chávez announced to the French press that he had been told by a FARC leader that she was still alive.

On 30 November, the Colombian government released information that they had captured three members of the urban cells of the FARC in Bogotá who had with them videos and letters of people held hostage by the FARC, including Betancourt. In the video Betancourt appears in the jungle sitting on a bench looking at the ground. She "appeared extremely gaunt". A letter intended for Íngrid's mother, Yolanda, which was found at the same time, was also published in several newspapers.

2008
In 2008, Chávez, with the initial permission of the Colombian government and the participation of the International Red Cross, organized humanitarian operations in order to receive several civilian hostages whose release had been announced by FARC. The first operation led to the release of Clara Rojas and Consuelo González. Emmanuel, Rojas's son born in captivity, had been freed previously after a stunning declaration from president Uribe, where it was discovered the infant was left in a foster home after being severely mistreated by the guerrillas.

On 27 February a second operation was carried out, freeing four former members of the Colombian Congress. The released hostages were very concerned about the health of Betancourt. One described her as "exhausted physically and in her morale. […] Ingrid is mistreated very badly, they have vented their anger on her, they have her chained up in inhumane conditions." Another said that she had hepatitis B and was "near the end". Nicolas Sarkozy said he was prepared to personally go to accept her release if necessary.

On 27 March, the Colombian government, with Uribe's support, offered to free hundreds of guerrilla fighters in exchange for Betancourt's release.

On 31 March, Colombian news station Caracol quoted several sources saying Betancourt had stopped taking her medication and stopped eating. She was said to be in desperate need of a blood transfusion.

On 2 April, Betancourt's son, Lorenzo Delloye, addressed the FARC and the President Uribe, to facilitate her release in order to prevent her death. He quoted the need for a blood transfusion in order to keep her alive saying that otherwise she may die in the next few hours.

On 3 April, an envoy left for Colombia to try to make contact with Betancourt and many of the other captives, who had become ill after years of captivity in the jungle. After two days, the envoy, including a doctor, still hadn't heard from the FARC, but received orders from the French government to wait. Five days after arrival of the envoy the FARC released a press note on the Bolivarian Press Agency website, refusing the mission access to their hostages, because "the French medical mission was not appropriate and, moreover, was not the result of an agreement." Following the FARC's refusal, the French government called off the humanitarian mission and said foreign minister Bernard Kouchner would visit the region.

On 2 July news reports stated that Betancourt and three American hostages were recovered (see Rescue below). Altogether, 15 hostages were freed, including 11 Colombian soldiers. Minister of National Defense Juan Manuel Santos said all the former hostages were in reasonably good health, although Betancourt stated she was tortured during her captivity.

Rescue
On 2 July 2008, Minister of Defense Juan Manuel Santos called a press conference to announce the rescue of Betancourt and 14 other captives. The operation that won their release, codenamed "Jaque" (Spanish for "check" as in checkmate), included members of the Colombian military intelligence who infiltrated local FARC squads and the secretariat of FARC, according to Santos. The FARC members in charge of the hostages were persuaded to accept a request from headquarters to gather the hostages together, supposedly to be flown to FARC chief Alfonso Cano. Instead, they were flown by government personnel dressed as FARC members to San José del Guaviare. No one was harmed during the rescue. Three American Northrop Grumman contractors, Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell, and Thomas Howes, were among those released.

Colombian military agents spent months planting themselves within FARC, gaining the members' trust, and joining the leadership council. Other agents were assigned to guard the hostages. Using their authority in the group, the agents ordered the hostages moved from three different locations to a central area. From this point, the hostages, agents, and about 60 real FARC members made a 90-mile march through the jungle to a spot where, agents told the FARC members, an "international mission" was coming to check on the hostages. On schedule, an unmarked white helicopter set down and Colombian security forces posing as FARC members jumped out. They told the FARC members that they would take the hostages to the meeting with the "international mission." All of the captives were handcuffed and placed aboard the helicopter, along with two of their FARC guards, who were quickly disarmed and subdued after the helicopter lifted off. According to Betancourt, a crew member then turned and told the 15 hostages, "We are the national military. You are free." Tracking technology was used by the rescuers to zero in on their target.

On 16 July 2008 it became public that one of the Colombian officials was misusing a Red Cross emblem during the rescue operation. Under international humanitarian law this is a war crime.

Political consequences
The liberated Betancourt thanked the Colombian armed forces and President Álvaro Uribe and gave her approval to Uribe's third term as a president. She urged neighbouring presidents Hugo Chávez (Venezuela) and Rafael Correa (Ecuador) to help Colombia and seek the political transformations in her country by democratic means. And she stated that she would dedicate herself to helping those who were still held captive in the jungle. Some believe that the liberation of Betancourt caused a dramatic change of the political scene.

In an interview on French radio shortly after her return to France Betancourt distanced herself from Uribe's approach while accepting that his security policy had been successful. She said the situation was at a point where "the vocabulary has to change", arguing that "the way in which we talk about the other side is very important". She also thanked president Hugo Chávez "for his help in recovering the freedom of many Colombian hostages" during their meeting in Caracas in 2010.

Reunion and celebration
Sarkozy sent a French Air Force jet with Betancourt's children, her sister Astrid and her family and accompanied by Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, for a tearful reunion. After paying her respects at her father's tomb she and the family boarded the jet and flew to France, where she was greeted by Sarkozy and the First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. She gave speeches and urged the world not to forget and to continue for the liberation of the rest of the hostages. She also spent several days in hospital.

On 9 July President Michelle Bachelet of Chile said she would nominate Betancourt for a Nobel Prize. Nicolas Sarkozy announced that she would receive the Legion of Honor at the Bastille Day celebrations.

On 20 July, Betancourt appeared next to singer Juanes at a rally in Trocadéro in Paris to celebrate Colombia's independence day and to once more urge the FARC to release all their hostages. Speaking directly to Alfonso Cano she said:

"See this Colombia, see the extended hand of President Uribe, and understand that it is time to stop the bloodshed. It is time to drop those weapons and change them for roses, substitute them with tolerance, respect, and as brothers that we are, find a way so that we can all live together in the world, live together in Colombia.'"

Allegations of payment
On 4 July 2008, Radio Suisse Romande reported that unnamed "reliable sources" had told it the rescue took place after a payment of US$20 million by the United States. According to Le Monde, the French Foreign Ministry denied the payment of any ransom by France.

Frederich Blassel, the author of the Radio Suisse Romande story, told Colombia's W Radio that, according to his source, the release wasn't negotiated directly with FARC but with alias César, one of the two guerrillas captured during the operation, who would have received the payment of US$20 million. According to Blassel, the two rebels could be given new identities by Spain, France and Switzerland.

The Minister of Defense Juan Manuel Santos, and Vice President Francisco Santos, in response to these claims, denied any payment. "That information is absolutely false. It has no basis. We don't know where it comes from and why its being said". He also added with a touch of irony that "Actually, it would have been a cheap offer, because we were willing to give up to USD 100 million […] We would be the first to inform publicly, because it is part of our rewards system policy, and besides, it would speak much worse about the FARC."

According to Colombia's El Tiempo and W Radio, General Fredy Padilla de León, Commander of the Colombian Armed Forces, denied the existence of any payment by the Colombian government. General Padilla argued that if any payment had been made, it would have been better to make it publicly known, to use it as an incentive and to cause confusion within FARC's ranks.

Compensation request
In June 2010 Betancourt requested from the Colombian justice, as other Colombian hostages previously had, monetary compensation under the Colombian law on protecting victims of terrorism. She presented her request on the grounds of having been victim of a lack of protection when her escorts were dismissed on 23 February 2002, which enabled rebels to kidnap her. The Colombian government said she was attacking in court the soldiers who had liberated her in 2008. Colombian vice president Francisco Santos said that the "lawsuit" deserved a "world prize for greed, ungratefulness and gall".

A few days after the news of the request had broken and public indignation had been added to the government's, Betancourt's lawyer, Gabriel Devis, said that the focus had to be on the "protection mechanisms the Colombian state offers to its citizens" and that nobody was attacking any soldier. He stressed that the former hostage was "deeply grateful" to "the armed forces and all those who in one way or another risked their lives to free the hostages."

Betancourt withdrew her claim for compensation, expressing her indignation at the way in which her undertaking had been distorted and the public opinion manipulated. She had suffered what she called a "public lapidation as if she was a criminal".

Apologies from the abductor
On 15 April 2008, Betancourt's abductor, Nolberto Uni Vega, said to journalists attending his trial in Combita that he was sorry for abducting the former presidential candidate and that he felt "remorse" over her plight. Uni gave a letter of apology to a journalist for delivery to Betancourt's mother, who would pass it on to President Sarkozy.

La Nuit Blanche
In October 2007, Bertrand Delanoë, the mayor of Paris, announced the upcoming Nuit Blanche, saying, "This year, both Paris and Rome want to dedicate La Nuit Blanche to Ingrid Bétancourt. [She is] an honorary citizen of the city of Paris, and an especially (committed and involved) woman, who has been held in Colombia by the FARC since 23 February 2002. We will [continue to] fight unceasingly for her release."

Out of Captivity book
In their book titled Out of Captivity, American Northrop Grumman contractors Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell, and Thomas Howes, all of whom spent time as hostages with Betancourt, described her behavior while a captive of FARC as selfish, as was her belief she deserved better treatment than the other captives owing to her political and social standing. The Americans, held captive by the FARC from 2003 to 2008, stated that throughout their captivity Betancourt claimed and took more than her fair share of scarce food, clothing, and personal space. Stansell said, "I can get over just about anything, but I don't know about Ingrid. Forgive? Yes. Move on? Yes. Respect? No." Marc Gonsalves has defended Betancourt, and stated: "For me she is a courageous person, she behaved like only heroes do, this is why I am so hurt with Keith's attacks."

Betancourt declined to comment on the Americans' allegations. In 2009, a spokesperson said Betancourt was "dedicated to writing her own book and not making declarations until it is finished."

Life after the rescue
Betancourt received the Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur (National Order of the Legion of Honour) shortly after her rescue and the Prince of Asturias Award of Concord in October 2008. She also met with international heads of state and international personalities such as Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, Pope Benedict XVI, King Juan Carlos of Spain and Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, President Álvaro Uribe of Colombia, President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and President Cristina Kirchner of Argentina.

In 2009, she signed with Gallimard to write her memoirs. The resulting book, published on 21 September 2010 after 15 months of writing, is titled Même le silence a une fin (Even Silence Has an End: My Six Years of Captivity in the Colombian Jungle). It mainly describes Betancourt's ordeal as a hostage of Colombian guerrillas and was praised as an "extraordinary adventure story", expressing her anguish in a poetic way. Her writing was compared to the greatest authors'; "just think of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and The Gulag Archipelago or novelists like Dumas and Arthur Koestler", writes Larry Rohter in The New York Times Book review.

Betancourt filed for divorce in 2009.

As of April 2017, she was studying a PhD in theology at Oxford.

Betancourt stated, "I think we have that animal inside of us, all of us…. We can be so horrible to the others. For me it was like understanding what I couldn't understand before, how, for example, the Nazis, how this could happen."

Recognition
She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2013.

title: Íngrid Betancourt


text:
Physics and Beyond

Physics and Beyond (Der Teil und das Ganze: Gespräche im Umkreis der Atomphysik) is a book by Werner Heisenberg, the German physicist who discovered the uncertainty principle. It tells, from his point of view, the history of exploring atomic science and quantum mechanics in the first half of the 20th century.

As the subtitle "Encounters and Conversations" suggests, the core part of this book takes the form of discussions between himself and other scientists. Heisenberg says: "I wanted to show that science is done by people, and the most wonderful ideas come from dialog".

With chapters like "The first encounter with the science about atoms", "Quantum mechanics and conversations with Einstein", "Conversation about the relation between biology, physics and chemistry" or "Conversations about language" and "The behavior of an individual during a political disaster", dated 1937–1941, a reader can hear speaking such persons as Erwin Schrödinger, Niels Bohr, Albert Einstein or Max Planck, not only about physics, but also about many other questions related to biology, humans, philosophy, and politics.

Not only that, these conversations are often situated in detailed description of the historical atmosphere and a beautiful scenery, as many of them were led in nature during the many journeys they made, backpacking or sailing. "'Do you see whales, Heisenberg?', 'Yes, I see only whales, but I hope they are only big waves.'", is one of humorous scenes when the author, Bohr and other friends were sailing in a dark night.

The book provides a first-hand account about how science is done and how quantum physics, especially the Copenhagen interpretation, emerged.

"Nobody can reproduce these conversations verbatim, but I believe that the spirit of what the people said, and how they did, is conserved," the author tries to explain in the preface.

Many believe that the golden years of physics around 1925, when "even small people could do big things" are gone. But the people who had been there continue to speak to us through this book.

The book was published first in German 1969, in English as Physics and Beyond (1971) and in French in 1972 (La partie et le tout).

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Physics and Beyond


text:
Talk:Athens

Climate
Greetings, I would like to state that the climate description of Athens is somewhat too extensive and thus tiring for the average reader to keep his attention. There are too many details in a disorganized manner and on top of that, some arguments appear to be disputed or even wrong. I will present a list of what I think should be changed, feel free to state your opinions: 1. in the 1st paragraph description is being repetitive over the areas to the south and some details are imo unecessary 2. the claim of an average annual temperature of 19.8 is most likely wrong and the source (#20) misinterpreted, as it does not clarify which of the 2 areas (Athens basin or southern Crete) actually has such annual average, while 99% likely it refers to the latter since no station in Athens with at least 20 years of data comes anywhere close to this value 3. Athens is warm indeed, but it has potential rivals on whether it is the warmest city in continental Europe, both within Greece and not (e.g. Piraeus, its port city and Seville and Almeria, Spain) which should be also mentioned 4. in the 2nd paragraph, the rain shadow effect also applies for the mountains to its north (Parnitha, Dirfys), it probably wouldn't be difficult to find a source on this 5. it's again being repetitive regarding industrialization which was also mentioned in the 1st paragraph 6. I suggest internal links should be provided when mentioning north and south parts of the metro area, like Kifisia for the north and Piraeus or Elliniko for the south 7. regarding snow description, again too many unecessary details without a clear statement about the actual snowfall frequency and intensity 8. in the 3rd paragraph, I believe the description of the urban heat island (UHI) could be summerized in a somewhat smaller text as it's again being a little repetitive using 2 long sentences. 9. furthermore, the source claiming that some stations do not experience UHI is perhaps too old and contradicted by the source #20 which clearly states the strong effect of UHI in the greater Athens basin area 10. in the last small paragraph, it should be clarified that both Eleusina and Tatoi are parts of Athens metro area and not suburbs Syllynqt (talk) 07:51, 26 April 2023 (UTC)

 * I agree on point 10, though the rest seems fine. For point 2 the Greek verbatim translation is straightforward including both Athens Basin and S.Crete. Point 3 would probably fall under WP:synth and one would need a verbatim source for a comparative statement like this (which reminds me that this should also be edited out from Almeria article). The rest also are RS which are complementary rather contradicting to each other. Weatherextremes (talk) 14:29, 26 April 2023 (UTC)

 * In point 2 what I get is they mention the Athens basin as one of the warmest areas along with southern Crete, by pointing out possibly the highest value among these two without clarifying where the value refers to, however we have data that suggest only southern Crete can reach these values for a time series longer than a few individual years while even for the warmest areas in Athens, a value of 19.8c would most likely be a record high annual temperature rather than an average one or alternatively it could be an average one but for only a short period of very recent years, thus not suitable for comparisons of the Athens area with other places backed by 30-year averages of climatic data. In point 3 I would say that the source is inadequate to justify the claim for Athens to be the undisputable warmest city in cont. Europe as by mean annual temperature there are several other contenders for this "title". I doubt there's a reliable source that makes such a direct comparison however I suggest to either mention all cities/places that come close to being the warmest or not mention it at all in order to be accurate. Last but not least, don't forget point 9, where the source looks to be more than 20 years old and thus not so accurate anymore, given also the fact that the more recent and reliable (from the national meteorological agency) source #20 says otherwise. The remaining points are indeed complementary that would only make the article more concise and easier to read. Syllynqt (talk) 16:00, 26 April 2023 (UTC)

 * Wikipedia does not work like this. As long as RSs support the edits (and all of the above are such) we are good to go. Weatherextremes (talk) 00:40, 27 April 2023 (UTC)

 * The source #20 clearly states the two extremes of avg temps observed in Greece, without attributing any of the values to a specific place. Neither is there a verbatim statement that says the Athens area in particular has a 19.8c average annual temp. While the available reliable data we have do not support such a claim either. So by all means claiming that Athens is the undisputed warmest area in Europe is not a reliable evidence-backed statement and should either be removed from the article, or at least mention the degree of uncertainty around it. 2A02:587:C270:EB82:90BE:98F8:6AB6:CD2D (talk) 07:26, 27 April 2023 (UTC)

 * There are also similar comments on the wiki page of Seville which are also backed by fairly weak sources, claiming the city to also be the warmest in Europe.. since as you say we cannot make comparisons among cities solely relying on data from official stations, then we rather remove all these statements completely, until an official institution or a peer reviewed study makes a claim on the matter. Syllynqt (talk) 09:05, 27 April 2023 (UTC)

 * Hello, I came here from the page Thessaloniki as I saw this page mentioned. I agree with some things you have said. Definetly Athens shouldn't start with that paragraph, as the main feature of its climate is a Mediterranean climate with hot summers, not being the hottest city in Europe (which is true, I'll show a better source below) and as you say the annual mean is not 19.8 celsius either, as the 3 stations shown in the climate section show 19.2, 18.6 and 17.8 annual averages.
 * The climate section needs a proper cleanup, since Athens is a big city with different geographical conditions, I would say that the annual average of Athens is between 18-19 celsius based on the climate boxes, that would be a good start. But I would also add they go from 16 celsius in the highest altitude areas of the municipality of Athens up to 19.8 celsius locally in the warmest area of the Athens Basin, just as the NOA source says. I wouldn't delete that, I would just specify it better. So I also agree with Weatherextremes point.
 * I also agree with Weatherextremes that there is no need to make comparisons with other cities, since you have mentioned Seville I have checked that source of the Seville page and it seems an official organisation from the European Union so that's a completely reliable source, just as the one on Athens being the hottest (it is the hottest as it holds the WMO European record) I would change both of the actual sources regarding that here in the Athens page for a Euronews source I have found (since it's more reliable) but definetly I wouldn't delete that claim, as Athens holds the actual hottest temperature record in Europe thus is the hottest city by extreme temperatures. But definetly that's not the main climate feature and the article shouldn't start like that. It needs a proper cleanup.
 * Here is the Euronews source: https://www.euronews.com/2022/06/24/europes-first-chief-heat-officer-explains-how-athens-is-preparing-for-severe-heatwaves WikiEditor1890 (talk) 17:12, 27 April 2023 (UTC)

 * I agree in general, I just object to the fact that since there are multiple sources for multiple cities claiming to be "the warmest" they naturally contradict to each other. Athens is very warm, Seville is also very warm, but the statement "Athens is the warmest city in mainland Europe by annual avg temp" in my opinion is wrong, as 1st the existing sources just say "the warmest" without mentioning which criteria they use, which could very well be as you said the record high temp which is held by the Athens area. And secondly the source #20 is written in Greek and the sentence that includes the 19.8c is very vague and not clear if it is referring to the Athens area or to Southern Crete. Currently there are no official stations with more than a few years in operation in the Athens area that go near to this value, the warmest being Piraeus at 19.4c. On the contrary, in southern Crete there are several that exceed 20c. Regarding Seville, it could be considered the warmest by summer highs, or by winter averages. There are sources here and there for this. But regarding avg annual temp, there is none. Syllynqt (talk) 17:34, 27 April 2023 (UTC)

 * WikiEditor1890 makes some interesting comments which gave me an idea. Actually 16C is not the lowest avg. annual T in Metropolitan Athens but rather less than 11C in Parnitha and it can reach up to 20.4C in Nea Smyrni from official NOA stations. However the data are for a shorter time series but still marginally acceptable as per WMO guidelines on accepting shorter times series to monitor climate change. How about we go roughly with the climate section of the Athens metropolitan area (it took me forever to source it and write it up). A shorter concrete summary can replace the introduction of the section. The 19.8C should definitely not go as it is from the National Met Office of Greece but as WikiEditor1890 suggests it can be better explained. Comparative statements between city climates are nearly irrelevant and should be avoided in order to safeguard the article against WP:synth. Just my two cents Weatherextremes (talk) 19:51, 27 April 2023 (UTC)

 * There could be a whole separate section called Climate of Athens (metro area) as there is one for the Climate of Istanbul due to the many different climates existing within the area. The summary of the city though should be cleaned up of the unnecessary details and very old sources (specifically about the urban heat island effect which date back to 1985) and refer strictly to the center or at most to places within the urban area. The 19.8 source is a game of words though the thing we all know is that excluding a few official NOA stations with very short time series, no area in the Athens urban area comes close to that number. I guess we all agree to leave comparisons with mean annual temperatures aside. Athens (metro area) could be the warmest area in Europe by extreme high temperature as the record holder, but there's nothing else that could back this claim coming from an official source. On a side note, in the Athens metro area climate section, the sentence with the 20.6c avg of Glyfada is more misleading than helping things and since its an unofficial station with very few years in operation it simply has to go. Syllynqt (talk) 20:20, 27 April 2023 (UTC)

 * A whole new article is too much work which I can't do on my own now but I would happily contribute to one. Right now Nea Smyrni from the official NOA station and for its whole time series which is more than 10 years beats the 19.8C HNMS value. So we do have a good indication that the warmest areas of Athens can potentially reach even as close as 21.0C at least in the most recent times (Glyfada for example is about to turn to 20.7C annual avg. T but I agree that since its a private station we can focus on official NOA stations). These are things we can't ignore. For example accepting Parnitha and not Nea Smyrni is cherry picking and not consistent especially considering the fact that these are the only official stations for these locations within Athens backed up by NOA sources. They somehow need to be addressed in the article in order to give to the reader the whole picture Weatherextremes (talk) 04:54, 28 April 2023 (UTC)

 * I agree for Nea smirni to be possibly included but for both Parnitha and Nea smirni and consequently for any other station, it has to be specified that the time series available is shorter and more recent than the typical 1981-2010 or 1991-2020 we find in most other articles, so that we help readers not to make wrong assumptions or comparisons with disimilar data. Syllynqt (talk) 07:35, 28 April 2023 (UTC)
 * And again we have to clarify which avg value is used, simple average or average with another formula, and use the one which is used in most other articles as I see the avg for near smirni with the noa formula is 20 and not 20.4 Syllynqt (talk) 07:54, 28 April 2023 (UTC)

 * I am afraid anything other that simple avg Ts will render values uncomparable internationally, thus creating consistency problems in EN wiki. Weatherextremes (talk) 22:42, 28 April 2023 (UTC)
 * I have made an attempt to improve the text of the climate section according to what we pointed out in our discussion above, please check it out and give some feedback! Syllynqt (talk) 19:56, 31 May 2023 (UTC)
 * yep, I think you do it justice. Short, concise and takes almost everything into account what we discussed. We could add a couple more things but even if left like this the reader gets a good idea. Weatherextremes (talk) 22:53, 7 June 2023 (UTC)
 * It's okay for me too, I've just did a small change (actually an improvement as I have added more text) based on the sources. Notice what I've said a month ago, both of the sources talk about extreme heatwaves and the appointment of "heat officers" because of the severe hot temps Athens can get (as it actually holds the WMO record for Europe) I have added some text to be precise with the sources. WikiEditor1890 (talk) 13:47, 8 June 2023 (UTC)
 * I reinstated the source that verbatim mentions Athens is the hottest in mainland Europe which is found at the very top under the title. Also I took out the word heavily which seems too strong. Weatherextremes (talk) 18:54, 8 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Oops sorry guys. I made a mistake which I fixed now since source is already there from WikiEditor's edit! Just took out the word heavily Weatherextremes (talk) 19:02, 8 June 2023 (UTC)
 * I think we can keep it as it is until new averages for 2001-2030 are released! If you want and have time guys take a tour to other greek cities/towns (especially outside Attica) climates, I've been trying for days to make some improvements by adding missing sources, updating weather boxes etc. In general it looked like a very abandoned section in every article and I think most of them at least look better now. Syllynqt (talk) 19:31, 8 June 2023 (UTC)
 * okay perfect. For me it's all fine as well!
 * it would be a pleasure, where do you need help? I'm Portuguese so I'm unable to read Greek, but if you have English sources I can help you expanding such articles. And I agree! this page looks perfect as it is right now.
 * WikiEditor1890 (talk) 20:01, 8 June 2023 (UTC)
 * I guess it would be difficult to find English sources for smaller greek cities, but it would be nice if anyone can find something for the cities of patras and volos, for which I can base my text solely on weather box data so far... Syllynqt (talk) 20:22, 8 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Also another thing I would suggest is to make a new article for the "climate of Athens" like most other European major cities have. Weatherextremes has written a decent text in the Athens metropolitan area page, which could be used as a base and we could enhance it with more weather boxes and any other kind of relevant data and sources, covering the whole metropolitan and even the regional administrative area Syllynqt (talk) 21:38, 8 June 2023 (UTC)
 * I agree, starting next week I will be on my leave so I might get some extra time. If I do, I might start it. It would be very informative to have various weatherboxes for different Athens areas since the metropolitan area is practically huge. Weatherextremes (talk) 04:55, 9 June 2023 (UTC)

Duplicated history
I think most editors realize now that you can't cover modern Athens and ancient Athens in the same breath. I think History of Athens was broken out of here but the break was imperfect. Too much ancient history remains here, not to mention the population of ancient Athens. We need a sharper break which I propose to make. I start by cutting the ancient history out of the "Name" section. No, I'm not going to do this on a painful line-by-line basis. See my sandbox page3 for Athens and my sandbox Page 4 for History of Athens. There is another item. The 10-year Copenhagen Study obsoleted a lot of ideas about the polis. It isn't, for example, per se a city-state. You can find my rewrite of Polis in my sandbox page2. Don't expect too much of these rewrites at first. However you are welcome to comment on any of it. I listen to everything.Botteville (talk) 10:20, 7 May 2023 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 07:23, 15 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Athens Tower 1.jpg

Informations about the Malakasa refugee reception centre ?
Hallo, are there any informations about the Malakasa Camp or Malakasa refugee reception centre nearby Athens? --WillkoCultEur2000 (talk) 16:37, 12 July 2023 (UTC)

Population figure
Is it 3.8 million (2023) or 3,638,281 (2021)? The lead has both figures in paragraphs 2 and 3. Ed [talk] [majestic titan] 01:30, 21 July 2023 (UTC)

The typos
how many typos there are it's ridiculous. 2603:6011:8200:1191:3881:3950:110D:8775 (talk) 13:02, 21 September 2023 (UTC)

Artist from athens
Please add this topic too 2409:40E3:101F:95BA:91CF:A9FD:D944:9AA7 (talk) 06:25, 12 January 2024 (UTC)

Etymology
If the old names were Ἀθῆναι and Ἀθήνη, how come we've got Αθήνα now? Either Αθήνη or Αθήνες would be expected (rebracketings "Setines, Satine, and Astines" mentioned in the last section seem to confirm this). Is the some sort of hypercorrection from the times of Katharevousa? 89.64.69.83 (talk) 03:18, 20 January 2024 (UTC)

Wrong photo of the airport.
This is definitely not AIA photo:

2A02:85F:F8C6:5B00:7F:66FF:6668:12D7 (talk) 23:50, 21 February 2024 (UTC)

Athens’s climate classification
i’ve heard once that Athens is bordering on semi arid climate, and I think it was even written in here. דולב חולב (talk) 13:39, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

 * The southern parts of the metropolitan area are semi-arid.
 * The municipal unit of Athens is Mediterranean. PAper GOL (talk) 13:51, 1 May 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Athens


text:
Socialist Labour Party

Socialist Labor Party or Socialist Labour Party may refer to:

 * German Socialist Labour Party of Poland
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 * Revolutionary Socialist Labor Party, United States
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title: Socialist Labour Party


text:
Scream Tracker

Scream Tracker is a tracker (an integrated multi-track step sequencer and sampler as a software application). It was created by Psi (Sami Tammilehto), one of the founders of the Finnish demogroup Future Crew. It was written in C and assembly language.

The first version (1.0) had monophonic 4-bit output via the PC speaker, as well as 8-bit output via Covox's Speech Thing (a digital-to-analog converter using the parallel port) or a Sound Blaster 1.x card.

The first popular version of Scream Tracker, version 2.2, was published in 1990. Versions prior to 3.0 created STM (Scream Tracker Module) files, while versions 3.0 and above used the S3M (ScreamTracker 3 Module) format.

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The last version of Scream Tracker was 3.21, released in 1994, placing it in competition with FastTracker 2. It was the precursor of the PC tracking scene and its interface inspired newer trackers like Impulse Tracker. Various other trackers (such as Impulse Tracker or OpenMPT) adopted the use of the Scream Tracker's S3M format.

title: Scream Tracker


text:
Perseus Digital Library

The Perseus Digital Library, formerly known as the Perseus Project, is a free-access digital library founded by Gregory Crane in 1987 and hosted by the Department of Classical Studies of Tufts University. One of the pioneers of digital libraries, its self-proclaimed mission is to make the full record of humanity available to everyone. While originally focused on the ancient Greco-Roman world, it has since diversified and offers materials in Arabic, Germanic, English Renaissance literature, 19th century American documents and Italian poetry in Latin, and has sprouted several child projects and international cooperation. The current version, Perseus 4.0, is also known as the Perseus Hopper, and is mirrored by the University of Chicago.

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The website has been criticised for being ergonomically poor and unintuitive, and new users may have problems accessing resources due to a confusing layout which seems to prioritize showcasing the Perseus Digital Library over its collections. The lack of presentation for collections accentuates this problem. Accessibility is another issue, with pages not always adhering to the standards of the Section 508 Amendment to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Sustainability
Perseus has proven convincing in terms of sustainability throughout its long history and ability to evolve, having notably been able to migrate from the SGML format to XML in Perseus 4.0. The preservation of the collections is further insured by a Fedora Commons Backend created in 2002 as well as a mirror site provided by the University of Chicago.

Key Actors
The Perseus Digital Library has been under the consistent leadership of its founder and editor in chief Gregory Crane. The library is nowadays located at Tufts University with a full-time staff of eight members, consisting of Gregory Crane, Marie-Claire Beaulieu, who has joined the project in 2010 and become its Associate Editor in 2013, Bridget Almas, lead software developer of the Perseus Digital Library and one of the primary programmers of the Alpheios Project, Alison Babeu, Digital Librarian and Research Coordinator of the library since 2004, Lisa Cerrato, Managing Editor who was a part of Perseus since 1994, and Anna Krohn, digital library analyst and lead developer of the Perseus Catalog. Frederik Baumgardt and Tim Buckingham are also noted as working on the Perseids Project full time, respectively as Data Architect and Senior Research Coordinator. A list of former staff and students can be found on the Perseus website.

Funding
A long list of agencies provided funding and grants to the Perseus Digital Library over the years. According to the home page of the Perseus website, the list of recent financial supporters includes: the Alpheios Project, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the United States Department of Education, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Endowment for the Humanities as well as private donors, and Tufts University. The Mellon Foundation, Tufts University, Harvard University's Center for Hellenic Studies and, mainly, the National Endowment for the Humanities are specifically noted as key donors that made the Beyond Translation project possible.

Additional support for the Perseus project has been provided over the years by the Annenberg Foundation, Apple Inc., the Berger Family Technology Transfer Endowment, the Digital Libraries Initiative Phase 2, the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education part of the U.S. Department of Education, the Getty Grant program, the Modern Language Association, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Science Foundation, the Packard Humanities Institute, Xerox, Boston University, and Harvard University.

title: Perseus Digital Library


text:
Jura Mountains

The Jura Mountains are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the French–Swiss border. While the Jura range proper ("folded Jura", Faltenjura) is located in France and Switzerland, the range continues as the Table Jura ("not folded Jura", Tafeljura) northeastwards through northern Switzerland and Germany.

Name
The mountain range gives its name to the French department of Jura, the Swiss canton of Jura, the Jurassic period of the geologic timescale, and the Montes Jura of the Moon.

It is first attested as mons Iura in book one of Julius Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico. Strabo uses a Greek masculine form ὁ Ἰόρας ("through the Jura mountains", διὰ τοῦ Ἰόρα ὄρους) in his Geographica (4.6.11). Based on suggestions by Ferdinand de Saussure, early celticists such as Georges Dottin tried to establish an etymon "iura-, iuri" as a Celtic word for mountains, with similar putative etymologies (e.g. *juris, "mountainous forest") still appearing in more recent non-academic publications. However, since there are no clear cognates in the surviving corpus of the Celtic languages, modern studies of Proto-Celtic and Gaulish etymology tend not to list any lemmata connected to Jura, and the name must be considered fundamentally unclear.

Physiography
The Jura Mountains are a far province of the larger Central European uplands. The Jura range proper lies in France and Switzerland.

In France, the Jura covers most of the Franche-Comté region, stretching south into the Rhône-Alpes region and north into the Grand Est region. The range reaches its highest point at the Crêt de la Neige (1720 m), in department of Ain, 5km west from the Swiss border of the canton of Geneva, and finds its southern terminus in the northwestern part of the department of Savoie. The north end of the Jura extends into the southern tip of Alsace (Sundgau). Roughly 1600 km2 of the mountain range in France is protected by the Jura Mountains Regional Natural Park.

The Swiss Jura is one of the three distinct geographical regions of Switzerland, the others being the Swiss plateau and the Swiss Alps. Most of the range covers the western border with France. In Switzerland, the Jura Mountains extend over an area covering (from northeast to southwest) the cantons of Zurich, Aargau, Basel-Landschaft, Solothurn, Jura, Bern (i.e., Bernese Jura), Neuchâtel, Vaud, and Geneva. The easternmost mountain of the Jura range proper is the Lägern, situated east of the river Aare. Much of the Swiss Jura region has no historical association with Early Modern Switzerland and was incorporated as part of the Swiss Confederacy only in the 19th century. In the 20th century, a movement for Jura separatism developed which resulted in the creation of the Canton of Jura in 1979.

The east of the Jura range proper separates the Rhine and Rhône basins. The northern and eastern part of the range drains towards the Rhine river and its tributaries Aare and Ill, whereas the western and southern parts drain towards the Rhône river and its (sub)tributaries Doubs, Saône, and Ain. Initially the river Doubs (a subtributary of the Rhône) flows about 100 km northeast, briefly venturing into Switzerland, then changing direction and flowing about 170 km southwest before joining the Saône ca. 140 km north of the French city of Lyon. In Lyon, the Saône joins the Rhône. While the Rhine flows into the North Sea, the Rhône flows into the Mediterranean Sea.

Northeast, the Jura range proper (known as "folded Jura", Faltenjura) is continued as the Table Jura (Tafeljura). The Table Jura ranges (from southwest to northeast) across the Swiss cantons of Basel-Landschaft, Aargau, and Schaffhausen (Randen), and the southern German states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria (as Klettgau Jura, Baar Jura, and the Swabian and Franconian plateaus).

Geology
The range is built up vertically while decreasing in size laterally (along a rough northwest–southeast line). This deformation accommodates the compression from alpine folding as the main Alpine orogenic front moves roughly northwards. The deformation becomes less pervasive away from the younger, more active Alpine mountain building.

The geologic folds comprise three major bands (lithological units) of building that date from three epochs: the Lias (Early Jurassic), the Dogger (Middle Jurassic) and the Malm (Late Jurassic) geologic periods. Each era of folding reveals effects of previously shallow marine environments as evidenced by beds with carbonate sequences, containing abundant bioclasts and oolitic divisions between layers (called horizons).

Structurally, the Jura consists of a sequence of geologic folds, the formation of which is facilitated by an evaporitic decollement layer. The box folds are still relatively young, which is evident by the general shape of the landscape showing that they have not existed long enough to experience erosion, thus revealing recent mountain building.

Tourism
The Jura range offer a variety of tourist activities including hiking, cycling, downhill skiing and cross-country skiing. There are many signposted trails including the Jura ridgeway, a 310 km hiking route.

Tourist attractions in the Swiss Jura include natural features such as the Creux du Van, lookout peaks such as the Chasseral, caves such as the Grottes de Vallorbe, as well as gorges such as Taubenloch. The Swiss Jura has been industrialized since the 18th century and became a major centre of the watchmaking industry. The area has several cities at very high altitudes, such as La Chaux-de-Fonds, Le Locle and Sainte-Croix (renowned for its musical boxes); however, it generally has had a marked decline in population since 1960. Both Le Locle and its geographical twin town La Chaux-de-Fonds are recognised as an UNESCO World Heritage Site for their horological and related cultural past.

In the French Jura, the 11th-century Fort de Joux, famously remodeled and strengthened by Vauban in 1690 and subsequently by other military engineers, is situated on a natural rock outcropping in the middle of the range not far from Pontarlier. Part of the A40 autoroute crosses through a portion of the southern Jura between Bourg-en-Bresse and Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, which is known as the "Highway of the Titans".

title: Jura Mountains


text:
End time

End time, End times, or Endtime may refer to:

Religion

 * Eschatology, beliefs concerning the final events of history or the destiny of humanity
 * Endtime Ministries, a Christian organization

Music

 * End Time (Freakwater album), 1999
 * End Time (Brutal Truth album), 2011
 * End Times (album), a 2010 album by the Eels
 * "Endtime", a song by Katatonia from the album Brave Murder Day
 * "End Times", song by the Eels from End Times
 * "End Times", song by Ghostpoet from Dark Days + Canapés

Other works

 * End Times (book), a 2019 exploration of human extinction risk by Bryan Walsh
 * "End Times" (Breaking Bad), a 2011 episode of Breaking Bad
 * "End Times", a photographic series by Jill Greenberg

title: End time


text:
Benzatropine

Benzatropine (INN ), known as benztropine in the United States and Japan, is a medication used to treat movement disorders like parkinsonism and dystonia, as well as extrapyramidal side effects of antipsychotics, including akathisia. It is not useful for tardive dyskinesia. It is taken by mouth or by injection into a vein or muscle. Benefits are seen within two hours and last for up to ten hours.

Common side effects include dry mouth, blurry vision, nausea, and constipation. Serious side effect may include urinary retention, hallucinations, hyperthermia, and poor coordination. It is unclear if use during pregnancy or breastfeeding is safe. Benzatropine is an anticholinergic which works by blocking the activity of the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor.

Benzatropine was approved for medical use in the United States in 1954. It is available as a generic medication. In 2020, it was the 229th most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 2million prescriptions. It is sold under the brand name Cogentin among others.

Medical uses
Benzatropine is used to reduce extrapyramidal side effects of antipsychotic treatment. Benzatropine is also a second-line drug for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. It improves tremor, and may alleviate rigidity and bradykinesia. Benzatropine is also sometimes used for the treatment of dystonia, a rare disorder that causes abnormal muscle contraction, resulting in twisting postures of limbs, trunk, or face.

Adverse effects
These are principally anticholinergic:

 * Dry mouth
 * Blurred vision
 * Cognitive changes
 * Drowsiness
 * Constipation
 * Urinary retention
 * Tachycardia
 * Anorexia
 * Severe delirium and hallucinations (in overdose)

While some studies suggest that use of anticholinergics increases the risk of tardive dyskinesia (a long-term side effect of antipsychotics), other studies have found no association between anticholinergic exposure and risk of developing tardive dyskinesia, although symptoms may be worsened.

Drugs that decrease cholinergic transmission may impair storage of new information into long-term memory. Anticholinergic agents can also impair time perception.

Pharmacology
Benzatropine is a centrally acting anticholinergic/antihistamine agent. It is a selective M1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist. Benzatropine partially blocks cholinergic activity in the basal ganglia and has also been shown to increase the availability of dopamine by blocking its reuptake and storage in central sites, and as a result, increasing dopaminergic activity. Animal studies have indicated that anticholinergic activity of benzatropine is approximately one-half that of atropine, while its antihistamine activity approaches that of mepyramine. Its anticholinergic effects have been established as therapeutically significant in the management of Parkinsonism. Benzatropine antagonizes the effect of acetylcholine, decreasing the imbalance between the neurotransmitters acetylcholine and dopamine, which may improve the symptoms of early Parkinson's disease.

Benzatropine analogues are atypical dopamine reuptake inhibitors, which might make them useful for people with akathisia secondary to antipsychotic therapy.

Benzatropine also acts as a functional inhibitor of acid sphingomyelinase (FIASMA).

Benzatropine has been also identified, by a high throughput screening approach, as a potent differentiating agent for oligodendrocytes, possibly working through M1 and M3 muscarinic receptors. In preclinical models for multiple sclerosis, benzatropine decreased clinical symptoms and enhanced re-myelination.

Other animals
In veterinary medicine, benzatropine is used to treat priapism in stallions.

Naming
Since 1959, benz a tropine is the official international nonproprietary name of the medication under the INN scheme, the medication naming system coordinated by the World Health Organization; it is also the British Approved Name (BAN) given in the British Pharmacopoeia, and has been the official nonproprietary name in Australia since 2015. Regional variations of the "a" spelling are also used in French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, as well as Latin (all medications are assigned a Latin name by WHO).

"Benztropine" is the official United States Adopted Name (USAN), the medication naming system coordinated by the USAN Council, co-sponsored by the American Medical Association (AMA), the United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP), and the American Pharmacists Association (APhA). It is also the Japanese Accepted Name (JAN) and was used in Australia until 2015, when it was harmonized with the INN.

Both names may be modified to account for the methanesulfonate salt as which the medication is formulated: the modified INN (INNm) and BAN (BANM) is benzatropine mesilate, while the modified USAN is benztropine mesylate. The modified JAN is a hybrid form, benztropine mesilate.

The misspelling benz o tropine is also occasionally seen in the literature.

title: Benzatropine