Ms Rojas was released by rebels Thursday with another hostage in a mission negotiated by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. She had not received news for three years about her son Emmanuel, who was located only days ago at a Bogota foster home living under a different name.
In the brief interview with Caracol Radio, Ms Rojas provided the first details about the upbringing of the boy who was fathered by a guerrilla member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and whose story has captivated this Andean nation.
Ms Rojas, 44, said she gave birth on Apr 16, 2004, by Caesarean section under primitive conditions.
'I gave him the name Emmanuel because he was a gift from God,' said Ms Rojas, who added she had no information about the father's whereabouts.
'He was so small and so cute. What most amazed me most was his smile,' she said.
'But I can't be objective - for any mum their child is the most beautiful,' she added chuckling.
Following the risky jungle delivery, Ms Rojas said she spent 40 days in bed under a female guerrilla's care. Once recovered and returned to the other hostages, she was allowed to see her baby for only a few hours each day.
Former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, kidnapped along with Ms Rojas in 2002 and still in captivity, knitted a blanket for the newborn.
After eight months, the baby, suffering from jungle-born maladies and a broken left arm, was separated from Ms Rojas for good.
'It was difficult (raising the child) because there were military issues - the helicopters overhead and the fact we were isolated and unable to leave,' she said.
Ms Rojas said she wrote a letter to FARC commander Manuel Marulanda, pleading with the guerrilla to turn Emmanuel over to her mother. 'I was always very worried to know where my baby was,' she said.
The next time Ms Rojas received news of her son was just over a week ago, when President Alvaro Uribe, in a New Year's Eve speech she heard on radio, accused the FARC of delaying the handover of Ms Rojas, Emmanuel and former congresswoman Consuelo Gonzalez because the rebels did not have the child in their custody.
'I was totally surprised because this wasn't what (the FARC) had told me,' said Rojas. 'From the first moment I thought they freed him through the international Red Cross.'
DNA tests later confirmed the boy had been living in a Bogota foster home under the name Juan David Gomez.
'I think when he hears me say Emmanuel surely he'll remember something,' said Ms Rojas.
Even though Ms Rojas has not seen her son in about three years, she already has big plans for the boy: 'I want him to start studying this year.' -- AP