Two million protest against Colombian rebels
COLOMBIA: More than two million Colombians demonstrated
worldwide Monday against the FARC Marxist rebels, according to official
figures, demanding the freeing of hostages and an end to decades of
violence.
Wearing white shirts saying "No more FARC" and "No more kidnapping,"
demonstrators brought normal business in Colombia to a virtual
standstill as they flooded the streets of its main cities and 125
capitals around the world.
"I feel the pain of the families of the hostages rotting in the
jungle ... and I want all the nations of the world to realize that the
FARC is not Colombia," one demonstrator, Myriam Forero, told AFP in
Bogota.
They were the largest rallies ever organized against the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), coming a day after the
armed group pledged to release three former lawmakers held hostage for
seven years in the jungle. The Colombian government has sought to link
the demonstrations to its own tough policies on the FARC and in recent
days made repeated appeals for a massive public turnout.
"Today the citizens have more faith in the state, they have more
faith in the army," conservative President Alvaro Uribe declared on
private television station Caracol. His government has used television
coverage over the past week to try and mobilize the crowds with images
of hostages behind barbed wire in FARC camps.
Bogota's Mayor Samuel Rojas said that more than 1.2 million people
converged on Bolivar square in the heart of the city and hundreds in
other parts, citing police figures. Half a million marched in each of
two other major cities, Medellin and Cali, according to local
authorities.
Students and civil servants were allowed to skip classes and work to
join the demonstrations.
Similar protests were also held in the United States, Canada and
Japan, with actions largely organized by Colombian embassies.
Demonstrations in Latin America included Peru, Brazil and Venezuela.
More than 3,000 people gathered in London's Trafalgar Square, with
hundreds turning out in Rome and Madrid.
"I condemn violence as a way of doing politics, and narco-terrorism,"
Colombia's ambassador in Madrid, Noemi Sanin, told AFP.
Some 200 people turned out in Paris, but the rally was condemned by
the family of high-profile French-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt.
"We condemn this manipulation. It's propaganda, which while
pretending to be against the FARC is completely organized by the
government," said the captive's sister Astrid Betancourt.
Bogota, Tuesday, AFP |
