By Anastasia Moloney
SAN JOSE DE ORIENTE, Colombia, March 2 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – After spending most of her life fighting for Colombia’s Marxist guerrillas, dodging air raids and patching up wounded rebels, 42-year-old FARC nurse Kelly Martinez has no intention of giving up the battle.
But her fight now is at the ballot box and not on the battlefield.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) is taking its final steps towards ending Latin America’s longest-running insurgency as it begins to surrender weapons this month under a peace accord signed with the government last year.
But its quest for power continues.
Rebels say they must now win hearts and minds and convince millions of Colombians that they are a credible alternative to traditional politicians even after half a century of war that killed 200,000 people and displaced millions.
“We’ll keep fighting with words and not arms,” said Martinez, at a mountaintop settlement in northern Colombia where around 160 FARC fighters have gathered to disarm.
“We don’t want anymore blood spilt,” Martinez, who joined the group aged 17, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
How effectively the FARC reintegrates into civilian life will be crucial for sustainable peace and the group’s political future, analysts say.
RE-ENTERING SOCIETY
For most fighters, the transition into society does not mean leaving the tight-knit organization they view as family.
Rather, they say they will soldier on, taking new roles on a mission to mobilise a political movement.
“Wherever the organisation needs me, is where I’ll be,” said Eliecer, who has been in the group for 20 years.
Across Colombia, the FARC’s nearly 7,000 fighters have left their strongholds, gathering in 26 demobilization zones where they will hand over their weapons to the United Nations by June.
Watched by U.N. observers, bulldozers clear shrubland and dozens of guerrillas work alongside local villagers building houses that will replace makeshift tents.
Apart from daily guard duty using battered AK-47 rifles, few vestiges of guerrilla life remain.
Combat fatigues have been replaced with brand-name sportswear. Instead of week-long jungle marches, rebels now spend their last days playing football, studying the peace accords and reuniting with long-lost children and relatives.
