Among the FARC's True Believers

Either way, few believe the FARC could ever topple the government today. And for many, it's getting harder to believe that the government won't eventually defeat the FARC, a 44-year-old insurgency. But it still has thousands of armed fighters, a war chest of hundreds of millions of dollars and a triple-canopy rain forest to hide in. Despite the heavy blows it's taken in recent years, the rebels continue to dominate regions like the Cordillera Occidental, where teachers, farm laborers, health workers and even locals who have spent more than a year outside the area must secure the FARC's permission before they can enter. The 18th Front remains the only authority for miles around, executing thieves, suspected informants and anyone who tries to evade the coca taxes. And despite the area's narco-economy, drug consumption of any kind is strictly forbidden — to such a draconian extent that a few days before TIME arrived, guerrillas executed two drug addicts in the nearby town of Puerto Valdivia.

A radio call forces Alberto to interrupt the interview. "I'm afraid something's come up," he says when he returns. "There's a problem I have to go and deal with." An army patrol is headed in his direction. "They are about two hours away," Alberto's second-in-command says. "We're gathering intelligence, and we're going to see if we can hit them tomorrow. It's better if you leave. The army is going to seal off the area. If they find you, they'll kill you, then blame it on us." Whether or not that's true, deaths, drugs and desertions — and now its hostage debacle — have left the FARC with a bigger public relations challenge. It's one that guerrillas like Alberto have to confront as hard as the Colombian army is now engaging them. — With reporting by Tim Padgett/Bogotá