Former Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt won the prestigious Prince of Asturias prize in recognition of her bravery and fight for democracy. 
Betancourt received the award in a category that honors those who work for peace or fight poverty, injustice or disease, or otherwise endeavor to help mankind.
She was freed by the Colombian military in July along with 14 other hostages in a daring, covert military rescue operation.
“Ingrid Betancourt has become a world symbol of freedom and human resistance in the face of the toughest adversities,” the jury said in a statement. “Her fight for democracy has been a hopeful example of dignity and bravery for the whole world.”
The former presidential candidate, who spent 6 years in captivity, dedicates her award to the many who still remain in hostage in the South American country.
“I would like this prize to ease the sadness of their families, in recognition of their great sacrifice,” she said in a statement released by the Prince of Asturias Foundation.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, have a long-standing policy of kidnapping for ransom or political leverage. Latin America’s last major rebel army holds dozens of hostages in Colombian jungle jails, some for more than a decade.
The Prince of Asturias are named after Spain’s Crown Prince Felipe. The prize has been given out since the early 1980s.
The awards are handed out in October in Oviedo, capital of the Asturias region.
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