COLOMBIA: INSIDE LOOK AT THE WOMEN OF FARC

Nick Miroff/Washingtonpost.com reported many of the guerrillas in the photos appear to be female. This is not news to Colombians, but the images were striking nonetheless…….The officers I spoke to explained that FARC has long incorporated women into its ranks. Having a mixed-gender army helped keep rebel soldiers on the battlefield longer, warding off potential homesickness.

There were FARC fighters wearing lipstick, bathing in creeks and cuddling up to their male companions — whom they refer to as “partners” since marriage isn’t allowed in the rebel ranks. The VICE crew found them to be fans of Katy Perry videos, nail polish and, evidently, giant charm bracelets.

I asked the officers: Are the FARC camps really like that — sort of an armed, jungle version of Outward Bound? And are there really that many women among the ranks of FARC’s 7,000 or so fighters?

What they told me next was a stunner.

“The women are the worst,” said one special forces officer, his name withheld because he works under cover. “If you get captured, you pray it’s by the male rebels.”

The female guerrillas are the most savage and brutal interrogators, he said. “They’re more ideological than the men. They’re merciless.” Read Article