Ingrid Betancourt, who was seized by Colombian rebels while running for president more than six years ago and only freed last week, said late Wednesday that politics are not her priority in the immediate future.
In an interview with CNN's Larry King, Betancourt did not rule out a resumption of her political career, but said she has different goals now from when she was kidnapped in February 2002.
Asked by King if she would run for office again, Betancourt, 46, replied: "I'm not saying that it won't happen. I'm just saying that it's not my priority and that it's not so important now."
The French-Colombian mother of two, who was rescued together with 14 other hostages by a Colombian commando team last week from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), said she still sees public service in her future, but added that she didn't like the label politician.
"I think that that word politician is kind of eroded. I don't like it. I think that it gives a negative connotation to what I want to do," she said.
"I want to serve. I want to be available. I want to be there for the ones that need."
But she said that over the six years in captivity she has "changed in many ways."
"I have changed in the way I relate to people, in the way I react to many things."
"I changed also what my goals are in life. I think that -- the only thing that remains perhaps is my desire to be there for others and to help," she said.
