Betancourt to Larry King: FARC captivity 'was hell'

(CNN) -- Ingrid Betancourt says death was her "everyday companion" during the six years she was a hostage of a leftist rebel group in Colombia.
Recently freed FARC hostage Ingrid Betancourt tells Larry King that her captivity was "hell."

Recently freed FARC hostage Ingrid Betancourt tells Larry King that her captivity was "hell."

"I really couldn't even imagine that I was taking the road for seven years," she told CNN's "Larry King Live." "For me, I thought perhaps it could last for three months at the most. I couldn't imagine what was going to come."

Betancourt, who has French and Colombian citizenship, was campaigning for the Colombian presidency when the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia abducted her in 2002.

She was rescued July 2 in an elaborately planned ruse that hoodwinked FARC captors into giving up Betancourt and 14 other hostages including three American contractors. She spoke to King Tuesday from Paris, France.

"In a way, I thought that [the rebels] knew what my struggle was," she said. "I thought they were wanting perhaps something like the things I was fighting for. I was fighting for social justice. I was fighting against corruption." Video Watch Betancourt describe life in the jungle »

During the interview, Betancourt talked very slowly and appeared weary. She explained that it had been a long and arduous week.

Her kidnapping was swift and it was hard for her at first to comprehend going from a free person to a prisoner, she said.

"You are a free woman and then you become a prisoner and you receive all kinds of orders. Sit here, stand there. That's it," she said. "You just, you don't have the possibility of even moving to take your bag without asking for permission."