Miami Herald
Dutch member of Colombia's FARC defiant
November 8--Dressed in military fatigues and cradling an M-16 rifle, Tanja Nijmeijer - a Dutch woman thought to be the only non-Latin American member of Colombia's oldest and bloodiest rebel group - glances at the camera and says she will be a ``guerrilla until we are victorious or until we die, and there's no turning back.''
Encuentra aquí lo último en Semana
In an exclusive interview broadcast by Radio Netherlands on Wednesday, Nijmeijer, 32, was unapologetic about her role in the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which has been battling the government for almost 50 years.
The radio station said the video was shot in August, about a month before the jungle camp Nijmeijer was at with FARC leader Jorge ``Mono Jojoy'' Briceño was overrun by the Colombian Army. Briceño died in that raid and there was speculation that Nijmeijer had also been killed. But the journalist who shot the footage, Jorge Enrique Botero, told Radio Netherlands she is still alive.
Nijmeijer -- who goes by the nom-de-guerre ``Eileen'' -- first caused a stir in Colombia in 2007 when the army discovered one of her diaries abandoned at a remote jungle camp.
The government released damning excerpts from the journal as it tried to paint a picture of a demoralized and weakened guerrilla army.
Read more here.
Semana International delivers news about Colombia in English. Find more in our home.
