Omaira Rojas Cabrera Explained

Anayibe Rojas Valderrama, also known as Omaira Rojas Cabrera (nom de guerre: Sonia), was born in Palestina, Huila Department, Colombia, on 16 June 1967. She comes from a low-income peasant family and had only completed two years of middle school before joining the FARC guerrilla by the late 1980s.[1] [2]

Capture

She was captured by the Colombian Military on 10 February 2004 in a location called Peñas Coloradas, jurisdiction in the Municipality of Cartagena de Chairá and was taken to the Larandia AB to be interrogated mainly about the three Americans the FARC had kidnapped and about FARC's Secretariat.[2] She was later transferred to many other locations for security reasons.[1]

Extradition

The United States accused "Sonia" of directly negotiating illegal drugs deliveries to Peruvian and Brazilian drug traffickers.[2] Sonia was handed over to U.S. officials on 9 March 2004 at Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport in northern Colombia. She was extradited in 2005.[3]

U.S. trial

On 20 February 2007, Sonia was convicted of drug charges in a Washington D.C. court, marking the first time that an accused member of the FARC was found guilty in a U.S. court.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20070312201645/http://www.pachakuti.org/textos/hemeroteca/2005_1/prisioneros5.htm . Guerrillera Sonia . es . 2007-03-12 . Soldepaz Pachakuti . Hemeroteca.
  2. Web site: Sonia la insurgente, ejemplo para las mujeres de Nuestra América . . https://web.archive.org/web/20060716061018/http://www.farcep.org/?node=2,2157,1 . 2006-07-16 . usurped . 2006-07-04 . Camila . Sáenz . es.
  3. News: Colombia extradites rebel 'Sonia' . . 2005-03-09 . Jeremy . McDermott .
  4. News: 2007-09-27 . . 'Sonia' declarada culpable de narcotráfico . 2024-06-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070927015408/http://www.elpais.com.co/paisonline/notas/Febrero202007/sonia.html . 27 September 2007 . es.