Dutch-born spokeswoman for the FARC rebel group, Tanja Nijmeijer, on Saturday defended its fight against Colombia's government, but admitted only elections could reveal how real the group's support was among ordinary Colombians.
"Our struggle is justified. We are at war," she said in a wide-ranging interview with the leftist Dutch daily De Volkskrant, who spoke to her in Havana where she is to take part in peace talks with Colombian authorities.
Nijmeijer, 34, who has been fighting alongside the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) for a decade, brushed aside suggestions that backing for the rebel group, who has itself been fighting Bogota since the mid-1960s, remained low. "Sometimes the media comes to the area where we are and asked the population whether they supported FARC. Nobody would dare say 'yes' for fear of reprisals," she said.
"Only if FARC laid down its weapons, and maybe in 2014 participate in the elections will it be known how big our support really is," added Nijmeijer, who has been designated as the group's spokeswoman at the talks.
Nijmeijer
originally went to Colombia as an English teacher, then joined the FARC
in 2002, reportedly shocked by the disparities between rich and poor.
She made headlines in 2007 when advancing Colombian soldiers came upon her diary in a hastily abandoned FARC jungle camp.
The
diary, published in Colombia's leading newspaper El Tiempo, detailed
petty squabbles among the rebel leaders, privileges the leaders enjoy,
and how far the guerrillas had strayed from true Marxist ideals.
Her
critiques in the diary apparently enraged FARC leaders, and there were
calls for her execution, according to accounts of her life with the
rebels. But Nijmeijer's language skills were vital to the guerrillas,
and she worked as an interpreter and translator for the insurgents.
EU-Digest
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