She shakes her long hair loose from a camouflage cap and strokes her nails, painted a soft shade of pink, down the barrel of a Kalashnikov assault rifle.
As she crouches in long grass in a savannah in southern Colombia, the afternoon sun reflects off small gold stud earrings and the brass tips of 7.62mm bullets poking through the top of an ammunition pouch.
At 20 years old, guerrilla fighter Lorena Nastacuas is a veteran of seven battles and is one of thousands of female warriors serving in the ranks of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, Latin America's largest guerrilla army.
"Everybody feels fear in a firefight. We are all human," she said. "But it is all a question of destiny. We are here to triumph or die." In rural Colombia, women have few job opportunities beyond caring for children, working in the home or tending family plots. Tradition dictates that only male members inherit land, and most girls are not expected to study beyond primary school. Many are married off and start childbearing when they are as young as 12 years old.
With such limited options, some rural women leave the country to work, including 40,000 who became prostitutes last year, immigration authorities said.
But others seeking a meaningful change in their lives have joined the FARC. There are no exact figures, but guerrilla commanders estimate that 20 to 40 percent of their 17,000 combatants are women.
For rebel commander Joaquin Gomez, head of the FARC's battle-hardened Southern Bloc division, the role of women is fundamental in what he calls the "people's war."
"A woman is more sensitive than a man and perceives injustice through every pore in her body. From the moment she is born, she is discriminated against," he said, referring to the machismo prevalent in Latin American society.
According to government statistics, that discrimination translates into wages that are typically 66 percent lower for women than men, and illiteracy levels that are about 6 percent higher among females.
Nastacuas, the daughter of a peasant farmer, enlisted in the FARC four years ago in southern Putumayo province because she could not find a job. Her father's plot of land could not provide enough food for her five brothers and sisters.
Nastacuas has not seen action since 1998, when President Andres Pastrana cleared this region of government troops in an attempt to boost the peace process. The FARC controls up to 40 percent of the country.
Despite the troop withdrawal, there has been no progress in negotiations to end the three-decade conflict, which has killed 35,000 in the last 10 years. The two sides have not agreed on a single item of a 12-point agenda that they said would form the basis of a final peace settlement. All efforts to broker a cease-fire have also failed.
The demilitarized zone has provided an important safety zone for the FARC, which continues to recruit and train women.
One newcomer is 19-year-old Andrea Saenz. She joined the guerrillas two months ago in San Vicente del Caguan, the undeclared capital and largest town in the demilitarized zone. She was issued olive-green combat fatigues and is undergoing military training and political indoctrination.
"The first weeks of training were difficult. I got tremendous bruises from the recoil of the rifle," Saenz recalled while straightening her T-shirt emblazoned with the logo "No More Yankee Soldiers" -- a reference to the estimated 300 U.S. military personnel in Colombia advising government troops.
The rebels deny the government accusation that the FARC forcibly recruits teenagers. The army also routinely charges that female guerrillas are little more than molls forced to perform sexual favors for their commanders.
But Saenz and Nastacuas insist the role of women is the same as their male counterparts. They guard, patrol and, when it is their turn, cook in mud ovens. Moreover, they say no concessions are made for gender when it comes to combat duties or hiking over rough terrain with backpacks weighing up to 75 pounds.
But machismo is still apparent in the all-male FARC ruling council.
"In the FARC, like in the rest of Colombia, there is machismo," said Olga Marin, a senior rebel official in charge of the FARC's international relations. "The guerrillas have grown up in a macho society. It is important for women to take a higher profile role in the FARC."
Women appear to be working their way up the ranks, and many are now serving as field commanders.
The commander of Nastacuas and Saenz's unit, for example, is 27-year-old Adriana Rondon.
Rondon, the daughter of a peasant family from south-central Huila province, commands a 20-person unit that protects the FARC's radio station, dubbed "The Voice of the Resistance."
"As a woman, you grow up feeling inferior," Rondon said. "But women don't have to be submissive."
Rondon joined the FARC 15 years ago, when she was just 12, after the army burst into her home and beat her father on suspicion of collaborating with the guerrillas. "I just wanted revenge, and although I was very young, I begged the guerrillas to let me go with them," she said.
Her revenge came in 1996, when she took part in a rebel raiding party that stormed Las Delicias army base in a remote corner of Putumayo province. In the ensuing battle, 31 government soldiers were killed and 60 more were captured, one of the FARC's biggest victories at the time.
Rondon recalled how she and her comrades marched in their underwear on the final days before the attack in a desperate effort to avoid friction burns from their uniforms, which were dampened by constant rain.
At the height of the 14-hour battle, fought under a tropical downpour, her Israeli-made Galil assault rifle jammed and she was forced to advance into enemy fire to seize a German G-3 rifle from a dead soldier.
Despite the rigors of such firefights, these revolutionaries keep up their appearance. With the aid of small handheld mirrors, they paint on eyeliner or lip gloss and drag wide-tooth combs through their hair.
"We always find time to make ourselves up. It doesn't last for long, though," Nastacuas said.
Unlike many regular armies, the FARC does not frown on love in time of war. But Rondon stressed there is no promiscuity.
Male and female guerrillas are allowed to begin relationships only after seeking permission from their commanders. They are then issued birth control pills and condoms to ensure that unwanted pregnancies do not interrupt the revolution. If a woman becomes pregnant, she is told to leave the baby with her family.
Rondon had a nine-year relationship with her first guerrilla boyfriend. He was killed in a firefight with the army.
"It was very difficult for me when he died," she said. "I felt as if I had a hangover for days. But I realized I had to continue the struggle."
GRAPHIC: PHOTO, MAP, PHOTO: Rebels Manuela Sandino (left), Andrea Saenz and Lorena Nastacuas patrolled southern Colombia. Women make up an estimated 20 to 40 percent of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. / Carlos Linares/Special to The Chronicle -- Yoshie
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