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A young Dutch woman has joined the FARC Marxist rebels in the jungles of Colombia, fighting with them, having romantic entanglements with their commanders and sharing their lives of adventure and constant danger.
That is the story being told by the Colombian Army, which claims to have stumbled upon the young woman's diary during a raid on a FARC unit last month.
The diary talks about the romance of the jungle guerrilla lifestyle but also rails against the sexism and stupidity of the FARC leadership, complains about the punishments handed out to footsoldiers like her, and fantasises about buying coffee and a bag of chips at a Dutch railway station.
The diary, extracts of which were published in the newspaper El Tiempo, has been the talk of Bogota, the Colombian capital, and the Dutch press - not least because an accompanying photo released by the Army shows a beautiful dark-haired woman with perfect teeth looking fresh and attractive in her olive drab fatigues.
Some speculate that the woman, identified in the diary by the nom de guerre Eillen but believed to be a 23-year-old Spanish language student from Groeningen called Tanja Nijmeijer, is being held against her will and may face punishment, possibly death, now her thoughts have become public.
Others have questioned whether the diary is genuine, suggesting it might be propaganda for the Army. Others still argue it is broadly supportive of FARC and its jungle guerrilla movement.
The Colombian Army says it surprised a FARC unit along the Guayabero River, deep in the jungle, on July 18. The Army said it killed three rebels in an ensuing shootout and seized several valuable objects left behind, including a computer belonging to the commander, Carlos Antonio Lozada, and Eillen's diary, handwritten on lined paper.
The text of the diary, as reported by the newspaper, shows her frustrations. "I'm tired, tired of FARC, tired of these people, tired of communal living," an entry for November 2006 reads.
She describes sexual relations between the male and female guerrillas as being casual, vaguely demeaning to the women and without protection. At least two of her comrades have Aids, perhaps more, she writes.
Another entry, addressed to a girlfriend, reads: "I'd like to live in Holland again for a bit. So I'm not patronised by know-it-alls and sexists for once."
The Dutch press has reported that Eillen travelled to Colombia as a student and then worked as a translator for the group. The Dutch Foreign Ministry has yet to confirm Eillen's identity.
- Independent
