It says something for the Trajectory of Tanja Nijmeijer’s Life that her Role as one of Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia Ejército del Pueblo (FARC)’s Principal Negotiators in Havana is One of The things for which she is least Well Known. Long before the Peace Talks, international Media were Enthralled by the Mystery and Contradictions of the Pretty, Educated, Middle Class Young Woman from a Small Dutch Town who ran away with the FARC in 2002 and Disappeared into the Jungle.

Nijmeijer, now 38, hasn’t been back in The Netherlands since she went to her Grandfather’s Funeral that year. Does she miss it? “Sometimes I do, especially the Language, my Family of course, friends, the Landscapes. Also the iIiosyncrasies, like the Character of the Dutch People, which is Very Different from the Colombian People. Dutch People are Very Direct. I’ve had a Lot of Problems Here in This Country with my Straightforwardness.”

Tanja Nijmeijer, in Vereda La Elvira, Colombia. “At the Beginning you get Sacred by every Aeroplane that comes by.” (foto  Kaveh Kazemi)

The Extent of the Progress that Colombia and Nijmeijer have made is illustrated by the Slight Irony in her Choice of Meeting Place: the fFont Terrace of a Small Budget Hotel near the US Embassy in Bogotá. In December 2010, Nijmeijer was iIndicted in a US Court for her Alleged Role in the Kidnapping of Three US Ministry of Defence Workers and Interpol issued a Warrant for her Arrest. But Four Years of Successful Peace Talks in Havana have Rehabilitated Many Reputations. Days after we Speak, Nijmeijer and other High Profile FARC Members are Well Heeled Guests at the Opening of a Peace Themed Film Festival in Cartagena.

Post Guerrilla Life

The Transition to a Post Guerrilla Life may present Fewer Problems for someone so Accustomed to Self Transformation as well as the Limelight. When Nijmeijer’s Diary was Found during the Raid of a Rebel Camp in 2007, it caused a Sensation in Colombia and the Netherlands, above all for her