Episode 10: Los guerrilleros (1) Episode 10: Die Guerillas (1) Episode 10: The guerrillas (1) Odcinek 10: Partyzanci (1)

**Martina:** Imagine living in fear of being kidnapped, extorted for money, or simply made to disappear?

**Martina:** This was the case for many Colombians in what was known as Latin America's longest civil war. For over 50 years, the Colombian government fought the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or the Farc, a guerrilla army that survived mostly in the southern jungles of the country.

**María Clara:** Recuerdo escuchar noticias de las FARC en la televisión: sus secuestros y ataques a ciudades pequeñas eran bastante comunes. María Clara: I remember hearing news about the FARC on television: their kidnappings and attacks on small towns were quite common.

**Martina:** That's María Clara Calle. She first heard about the Farc rebels when she was a little girl during family discussions at the dinner table. María grew up to become a journalist, and wrote dozens of articles about the Farc over the course of three years. But in all that time, she had never seen a guerrillero, a guerrilla fighter, in person.

**María Clara:** Nunca. Pero un día entré al territorio de las FARC y no solo los entrevisté, sino que también comí y dormí entre ellos. But one day I entered FARC territory and not only interviewed them, but also ate and slept among them.

**Martina:** Welcome to the Duolingo Spanish Podcast — I'm your host, Martina Castro, and each episode we bring you fascinating first-person stories from Spanish speakers around the world. The storytellers will be using intermediate Spanish and I'll be chiming in for context, in English. But these are not language lessons, they're real life lessons through language. And just a heads up, in this story you'll be hearing a few words that are super important to keep in mind. First, proceso de paz, or peace process...and guerrillero, which refers to a combatant or fighter in an insurgent group. In this case, in the FARC.

**Martina:** María and her colleague Andrés Celis entered the plains of southern Colombia on the back of rented motorcycles. Their drivers took them down a dirt road that led toward a hard-to-access region.

**María Clara:** En este lugar no había casas, no vivía nadie. María Clara: In this place there were no houses, no one lived. Durante el viaje, tuve mucho tiempo para pensar. During the trip, I had a lot of time to think. Pensé en el conflicto con las FARC. I thought of the conflict with the FARC. Pensé también en cómo las FARC y sus actos de violencia afectaron a Colombia. I also thought about how the FARC and its acts of violence affected Colombia.

**Martina:** The Farc was born back in 1964. It started off as a peasant movement that took up arms to defend their land from a conservative government. They were persecuted for their liberal ideas like protecting land for the poor. Over time, they moved from self-defense to seizing power through violence.

**María Clara:** Y empezaron a secuestrar a personas, atacar a pueblos y a traficar drogas. María Clara: And they began to kidnap people, attack towns and traffic drugs. Como periodista, yo escribí mucho sobre las FARC y sus actos de violencia. As a journalist, I wrote a lot about the FARC and its acts of violence. Hablé con las familias y amigos de personas que ellos habían atacado. I spoke to the families and friends of people they had attacked.

**Martina:** Now, María was headed toward the Tenth National Guerrilla Conference. It was September of 2016, a peace process was under way, and the guerrilleros were gathering to vote on the deal before them. It would be the first meeting in the history of the Farc that could be attended by journalists, both Colombian and foreign.

**María Clara:** Tenía mucha curiosidad, sí. María Clara: I was very curious, yes. Pero también un poco de miedo. But also a little scared. No sabía cómo iba a ser la situación en la conferencia. I didn't know what the situation was going to be like at the conference. Iba a un territorio nuevo. He was going into new territory. Y a un evento histórico.

**Martina:** A little further on, the motorcycles María and her colleague were riding encountered a group in the road. They were men in full camouflage uniforms, with machine guns against their shoulders.

**María Clara:** “Son guerrilleros”, me dijo el chofer de la moto. María Clara: "They are guerrillas," the motorcycle driver told me. Mi corazón paró por unos segundos. My heart stopped for a few seconds. Era la primera vez que veía a un guerrillero en persona. It was the first time he had seen a guerrilla in person.

**Martina:** They stopped María's group and began to search them.

**María Clara:** Nos pidieron documentos de identificación y, furiosos, nos preguntaron por qué estábamos allí. María Clara: They asked us for identification documents and, furious, they asked us why we were there.

**Martina:** When Andrés replied that they were journalists going to cover the Conference, their attitude changed.

**María Clara:** “Pueden continuar”, dijo un guerrillero. Era obvio –ahora estábamos en territorio de las FARC. It was obvious – we were now in FARC territory.

**Martina:** Further on there was a big white tent where several guerrilleros were searching people as they arrived. They gave María and Andrés ID tags and t-shirts with the conference logo.

**María Clara:** Yo estaba nerviosa. Querían saber mi nombre, email y número de teléfono. Pero yo no quería dar mi información personal a la guerrilla. But I did not want to give my personal information to the guerrillas. Además, un guerrillero quería tomarme una foto. Also, a guerrilla wanted to take a picture of me.

**Martina:** María told him that she would only allow him to take a photo of her if she could take a photo of him too.

**María Clara:** Él respondió “no” y me tomó la foto. María Clara: He answered “no” and took my photo. Yo estaba furiosa, y le tomé una a él con mi celular. I was furious, and I took one of him with my cell phone.

**Martina:** At that point Andrés interfered... Martina: At that point Andrés interfered...

**María Clara:** Me dijo: “Tranquila, estás muy nerviosa”. María Clara: He told me: “Don't worry, you're very nervous”.

**Martina:** Andrés asked her to stop arguing with the guerrilleros, but María explained that it wasn't that easy for her.

**María Clara:** Le dije que era la primera vez que hablaba con un guerrillero. María Clara: I told him that it was the first time I had spoken with a guerrilla. Para mí era difícil ignorar que eran un grupo ilegal. It was hard for me to ignore that they were an illegal group. No podía estar tranquila: en este lugar ellos tenían el poder y el gobierno colombiano no estaba presente. I could not be calm: in this place they had the power and the Colombian government was not present.

**Martina:** After getting past security, they were taken to their caletas. Martina: After getting past security, they were taken to their caletas. The “caletas” were cots made of bamboo stalks, covered with grass, plastic, and a thin mattress. They were placed right next to one another, organized in rows of thirty beds. Each one had a mosquito net to keep the insects out.

**María Clara:** Las caletas no parecían confortables. María Clara: The coves did not seem comfortable. Tampoco me gustó ver que iba a dormir con guerrilleros. I also didn't like seeing that I was going to sleep with guerrillas.

**Martina:** To lighten up the mood, María told Andrés that she had brought cotton balls to put in her ears before sleeping. She confessed she was terrified of bugs getting inside her ears.

**María Clara:** Andrés empezó a reírse. Me sentí como una niña. I felt like a girl. Unos minutos más tarde decidimos salir y caminar un poco por el lugar. A few minutes later we decided to go out and walk around the place a bit.

**Martina:** After walking for ten minutes, they saw some brick houses that the journalists weren't allowed to enter. Later, María and Andrés learned that that's where the highest ranked leaders of the Farc slept.

**María Clara:** También vimos el área para los reporteros — era muy grande. María Clara: We also saw the area for the reporters — it was very big. Había electricidad e Internet, pero no había señal de teléfono celular, por lo que estábamos bastante aislados. There was electricity and internet, but no cell phone signal, so we were pretty isolated.

**Martina:** María was shocked by how the Farc was able to offer so many services in the middle of nowhere. There was a restaurant, portable toilets, and, what most impressed her: a stage for concerts with professional lights, microphones, speakers, and a sound board.

**María Clara:** Había un rumor que el último día de la conferencia iban a cantar grupos famosos de Latinoamérica. María Clara: There was a rumor that famous groups from Latin America were going to sing on the last day of the conference. Pero los rumores eran falsos. But the rumors were false.

**María Clara:** La primera noche llegó un grupo colombiano no muy conocido. María Clara: The first night a not very well known Colombian group arrived. Algunos reporteros bailaron y bebieron cerveza con los guerrilleros.

**Martina:** The journalists partying with the guerrilleros had interviewed the Farc before. In that sense, they were old acquaintances. For María, it was all a bit surreal.

**María Clara:** Yo no bailé ni bebí mucho. Casi no hablé con los guerrilleros. Estaba muy cansada. Necesitaba dormir. Andrés continuó bailando en la fiesta y yo me fui sola a mi caleta.

**Martina:** She walked more than 20 minutes through the darkness, lighting the path with her cell phone flashlight.

**María Clara:** Había escuchado que podía encontrar muchas hormigas, mosquitos, escorpiones y serpientes. María Clara: I had heard that I could find many ants, mosquitoes, scorpions and snakes.

**Martina:** She reached her bed and took what she needed from her bag, including those two pieces of cotton.

**María Clara:** Me puse el algodón dentro de mis oídos…

**Martina:** Algodón is cotton and she put them in her oídos, her ears…

**María Clara:** Lo hice como protección contra los insectos. María Clara: I did it as protection against insects. Así, cansada después de ese largo día, me fui a dormir inmediatamente. So, tired after that long day, I went to sleep immediately.

**Martina:** In the morning, María looked for a place to bathe. Some guerrilleros pointed her toward a small river.

**María Clara:** Después del baño fui a desayunar con Andrés. Le dije que dormí mucho y tranquila con el algodón en mis oídos. Él de nuevo se rió de mí. He laughed at me again.

**Martina:** As they walked toward the press room, María and Andrés saw a group of guerrilleros gathered around a woman. She was covering one ear with her hand.

**María Clara:** La mujer era una reportera de otro país. En la noche, mientras dormía en su caleta, un insecto entró a su oído.

**Martina:** María looked at Andrés out of the corner of her eye. It turned out she wasn't so crazy after all!

**María Clara:** Él se quedó sorprendido, en silencio. María Clara: He was surprised, in silence.

**Martina:** There was a first aid station at the conference, so some of the guerrilleros knew how to deal with medical emergencies. In wartime they'd had to treat their comrades after battle or when someone had a health problem in an isolated place.

**María Clara:** El insecto estaba muy profundo dentro del oído. Los guerrilleros sólo pudieron extraer una parte. Para extraer el resto, la reportera iba a necesitar una operación médica.

**Martina:** Some of the event organizers went to find a car and decided to take her to a hospital in the nearest city.

**María Clara:** Toda mi vida había pensado en las FARC como “los enemigos”, un grupo violento e ilegal, responsable de actos terribles en Colombia. María Clara: All my life I had thought of the FARC as “the enemies”, a violent and illegal group, responsible for terrible acts in Colombia.

**Martina:** That's why María couldn't imagine trusting these enemigos, or enemies, with her health and safety.

**María Clara:** Para mí era raro ver a la guerrilla dar asistencia médica a una reportera. No sabía qué pensar.

**Martina:** Later that same day, the Farc opened the doors of the house where their leaders were staying, and let the journalists in to interview them.

**María Clara:** Fue increíble hablar y estar cerca de los comandantes. Ellos tomaron las decisiones más importantes de las FARC, incluyendo las más violentas: secuestros y ataques a políticos. They made the most important decisions of the FARC, including the most violent: kidnappings and attacks on politicians.

**Martina:** But now María was watching these same people make jokes, smile, and stress out with all the questions the reporters were throwing at them. She remembers one interview in particular from that day.

**María Clara:** Hablé con una guerrillera, una mujer que tenía 25 años, como yo. María Clara: I spoke with a guerrilla, a woman who was 25 years old, like me. Tenía una manicura perfecta y muy buen estilo. Era difícil creer que ella era parte de uno de los grupos más violentos dentro de las FARC.

**Martina:** This guerrillera belonged to a group that had been responsible for kidnappings of political leaders and terrible attacks in some of Colombia's largest cities. María was surprised to hear the reason she had decided to join the FARC.

**María Clara:** Me dijo que cuando ella era pequeña su papá la golpeaba. María Clara: She told me that when she was little her father beat her. No sabía cómo escapar de su violencia física. She didn't know how to escape his physical violence. Por eso entró a las FARC. That's why he joined the FARC. También hablé con algunas guerrilleras que estaban embarazadas. I also spoke with some guerrillas who were pregnant.

**Martina:** The pregnant women María interviewed told her that they were happy about the peace process. If it was successful, they'd be able to raise their babies outside of the jungle and without being at war.

**María Clara:** Durante esos días vi a muchos guerrilleros recibir visitas de sus familias. Cuando los vi pensé en cómo ellos también perdieron contacto con sus hijos e hijas. When I saw them I thought about how they also lost contact with their sons and daughters.

**Martina:** The conflict had taken a lot from them as well.

**María Clara:** El último día de la conferencia, aún en mi cama, escuché un helicóptero. Una guerrillera que dormía cerca despertó con miedo, buscando su arma. Generalmente, un helicóptero significaba que los militares estaban cerca.

**Martina:** But the helicopter was not there to attack them —quite the contrary. It had the logo of the International Red Cross, and it was coming to take the Farc's leaders to Cartagena.

**María Clara:** Allí los líderes iban a firmar el acuerdo de paz.

**Martina:** Maria learned that during the conference the guerrilleros had voted yes on the historic peace agreement.

**María Clara:** Pero terminar el proceso de paz no fue tan simple. Los colombianos votaron y la mayoría votó que NO. Muchos tenían miedo: no querían guerrilleros de regreso a las ciudades, en la sociedad. Otras personas votaron NO por ideas políticas. O porque pensaban que los guerrilleros no iban a pagar por sus actos de violencia.

“Colombianos, hoy me dirijo al país como presidente de todos los colombianos….” “Colombians, today I address the country as president of all Colombians….”

**Martina:** A few months later, a new agreement was signed, and this one was ratified by congress. The Farc finally agreed to relinquish it's weapons. Today the Farc maintains its characteristic acronym, but the letters stand for something different: