Over two months ago, veteran journalist, Marc Hoogsteyns, became the very first international reporter to pay a visit to the M23 rebel strongholds in Eastern DRC. 

As he recounted during an interview that he had on this very podcast in July, he not only spoke to a couple of M23 junior officers, he also met and interviewed young, Rwandan-born FDLR fighters who had been captured on the battle front. 

Taking advantage of a lull in the fighting Marc last week went back to the DRC, and got the opportunity to not only interview the president of M23, Betrand Bisimwa, he was able to talk to senior commanders, talk to them about their future military plans as well as witness daily life in the rebel stronghold. 

He's back on this platform to share his insights on M23’s battle readiness, what normal life looks like in their zones of control and what the political arm of the rebel movement expects from not only the DRC government but also the region as well. 

Marc is a Belgian freelance journalist who has been living and working in Africa for 25 years. He has made reports for BBC, ABC-Australia, TV5 and Reuters. He also manages Kivu Press Agency

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