Top Female Rebel Leader
Surrenders In Colombia
Exhausted, ill and cut
off from her troops, a
one-eyed female
guerrilla commander
surrendered to Colombian
authorities in what they
described Monday as a
major blow to the
rebels.
Nelly Avila, the
highest-ranking female
rebel, told a news
conference that she had
lost hope and decided to
cut a deal.
On Sunday, the
45-year-old woman widely
known by her nom de
guerre "Karina" became
the latest in a series
of rebel commanders to
fall prey to President
Alvaro Uribe's
carrot-and-stick
strategy of
counterinsurgency.
"She was known for her
cruelty and daring, and
for the massacres and
beatings she ordered
over 20 years with the
guerrillas," Defense
Minister Juan Santos
said. "So she was a very
important military
target."
About 30 percent of the
fighters of the FARC —
the Spanish acronym of
the Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia — are
thought to be women. But
Avila was the first to
command a "front," the
rebel equivalent of a
small battalion of about
400 fighters.
After decades of eluding
the authorities, five
top rebels have been
captured or killed by
Colombia's U.S.-backed
army in the past year
alone. The casualties
included two members of
the rebels' ruling
secretariat.
"This will be another
blow to the FARC's
morale," said Bogota
political analyst Ariel
Avila, who is not
related to the
guerrilla.
Another 1,100 guerrillas
have simply surrendered
in the past year and
joined a
government-sponsored
program that provides
housing, job training
and other benefits.
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