Sonia, whose full name is Anayibe Rojas Valderrama, is a soldier for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and a woman of high moral character. A poor peasant who joined the revolution to end poverty and oppression in Colombia, she is now awaiting sentencing. Her whole life has been dedicated to changing society and to ending poverty and misery.

There was nothing fair about Sonia’s trial and a guilty verdict was nearly certain from the start. There was no physical evidence presented. Her trial mainly consisted of the testimony of four U.S. government paid informants who lied. There were no defense witnesses and Sonia was never called to defend herself or explain the political situation and U.S. intervention in Colombia. The jury had little chance of ever understanding the case due to ignorance about the 42 year Colombian civil war, the growing revolution led by the FARC and the deepening military intervention of the U.S.

Tom Burke of the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera states, “The Bush administration is conducting a dirty war in Colombia and Sonia’s trial and imprisonment violate the sovereignty of Colombia. The U.S. government already runs the Colombian military and their paramilitary death squads. Now Bush is using the U.S. courts to try to criminalize freedom fighters, like the FARC, who are gaining popularity and strength in Colombia.”

Concerning the conviction Burke said, “Sonia’s drug conviction is completely phony. How can U.S. spy satellites take photos of your dog in your back yard, but there are no pictures of the FARC with drugs? The FARC running drugs is like weapons of mass destruction in Iraq – a big, big lie so an illegal war can continue. Bush’s friend, Colombian President Uribe, is the one connected to the paramilitary drug runners and he is close to being taken down for it.”

Another Colombian revolutionary, Ricardo Palmera, a peace negotiator for the FARC will face a retrial in March. His last trial ended with a hung jury. The National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera will be protesting at the first day of the retrial of Ricardo Palmera on March 26 in Washington D.C.

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Sonia, a combatant in Colombia’s civil war, was captured Nov. 10, 2004, in the southern mountains of Colombia, near Cartagena de Chaira. Since becoming a prisoner of war, Sonia has been shuffled around from Colombian military bases, to a Colombian navy ship, to the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, to prison in the U.S. Sonia is no average prisoner and her case is not a normal criminal trial.

Sonia is being charge with drug crimes under U.S. laws, though she allegedly committed these crimes in Colombia. In a previous prison telephone interview with La Voz newspaper Sonia said, “I am not a narco-trafficker, I am a woman guerrilla fighter of the FARC.” She goes on to say “They want to extradite me for a crime which I did not commit. I am not a narco-trafficker. The big narco-traffickers are taking a walk in the streets, seated in the Congress of the Republic, and the highest positions of power. My only crime is that I rebelled against the violent, undemocratic and cruel state [of Colombia].”

“Sonia”, 39 years of age, is the daughter of hard working peasants and of her own free will joined the FARC at the end of the 1980’s. She says at the U.S. embassy they interrogated her, but she refused to answer. The U.S. embassy also offered to bring Sonia and her family to the U.S. and provide for them if she would inform on her friends and comrades in the FARC. She says the U.S. officials threatened “otherwise you will be extradited, locked up in darkroom and will have to spend many years without seeing your family.” So now, much like fellow FARC leader Ricardo Palmera, she is imprisoned in the U.S. and her trial begins on Monday, Jan. 8.

Ricardo Palmera won a big victory in his first trial in the U.S. when the jury could not agree on a verdict. Bush’s White House had sought to find Palmera and the FARC guilty of kidnapping U.S. mercenaries in Colombia. Judge Hogan was forced to declare a mistrial for Palmera and then Sonia’s case was transferred from Hogan’s courtroom to Robertson’s. Judge Hogan and the U.S. prosecutors are going to take a second crack at FARC peace negotiator Ricardo Palmera on March 26.

Tom Burke, spokesperson for the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera said, “Just like the extradition and trial of Ricardo Palmera, Sonia’s trial is completely out of bounds. The U.S. has no right to put Colombian revolutionaries on trial in the U.S. It is another form of intervention in the undeclared U.S. war in Colombia. The Bush White House is losing their war in Colombia. Plan Colombia is a total failure. Sonia’s trial reflects the desperation of U.S. foreign policy.”

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Commander Sonia is the second rebel leader to be imprisoned in the United States. Ricardo Palmera, another FARC leader, is being held in jail near Washington, D.C.

Tom Burke, of the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera, stated, “It’s ominous that the Bush administration is continuing its policy of kidnapping leaders of a national liberation movement. Bush has no business jailing these fighters for justice and equality.”

Reports from Colombia indicate that Sonia was held under extremely harsh conditions. Torture is commonplace in Colombian prisons.

The FARC is Colombia’s largest rebel group. It is fighting an unpopular government that is propped up by the U.S. military.

For further information on the struggle to free Colombian political prisoners, contact the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera at www.freericardopalmera.org.

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