Posted on 02/04/2008 8:27:17 PM PST by Pikachu_Dad
Hundreds gather for protest against Colombian guerrilla group Víctor Manuel Ramos and Alsy Acevedo | Sentinel Staff Writers 4:19 PM EST, February 4, 2008 Hundreds of Colombians surfaced seemingly out of nowhere and flooded Orlando's Lake Eola Park on Monday at noon, joining a worldwide protest against bloodshed and kidnappings by guerrilla forces in their South American nation. The crowd of working men and women, college students, elderly people and even children in white t-shirts formed a throng shouting for peace that spilled over the park's amphitheater. They waved the yellow, blue and red of their national flag and sang their national anthem. Theirs was an act of repudiation against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by their Spanish-language acronym of FARC -- a guerrilla group blamed for holding more than 700 hostages, including three U.S. military contractors and former French-Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt. "The FARC needs to disappear from Colombia," said Andrés Galvis, a computer science student at the University of Central Florida who led a group of students in organizing the Orlando rally. "The Colombian people don't want any more violence." The struggles between the FARC, other paramilitary forces, and the government of Colombia have kept the nation of more than 44 million people in constant war for several decades. Many of the Colombians protesting at Lake Eola, in other U.S. cities and in émigré communities throughout the world have fled the country seeking better economic conditions, but also fearing the violence that is linked to the country's drug cartels and the guerrillas. The crowd chanted "¡No más FARC!" and joined in shouts of "¡Libertad! ¡Libertad! ¡Libertad" --Spanish for "Freedom!"-- ... Víctor Manuel Ramos can be reached at vramos@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-6186. Alsy Acevedo can be reached at aacevedo@orlandosentinel.com or 407-540-4004.
(Excerpt) Read more at orlandosentinel.com ...
The only reference I could find was of this small rally in Orlando. The rally they had on the KGLA from Columbia was huge.
Hugo Nichols wears chains as a symbolic gesture during the march around Lake Eola to protest the Colombian guerrilla-terrorist organization FARC -- also know as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia --
Feb. 4, 2008, as a part of a coodinated protest taking place in 175 cities in the U.S., Latin America and around the world. Nichols' brother has been missing for 16 years and was reportedly kidnapped by FARC guerrillas.
(JOE BURBANK, ORLANDO SENTINEL / February 4, 2008)
Ah, here is an article on the rally from Columbia.
Colombians take to streets in huge anti-FARC march
Mon Feb 4, 2008 7:40pm EST
By Patrick Markey
BOGOTA (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of Colombians took to the streets across the country and overseas on Monday in a huge protest against FARC guerrillas and their kidnapping of hostages held for years in hidden jungle camps.
Waving flags and wearing white T-shirts printed with “No more kidnapping, No more lies, No more killing, No more FARC,” protesters streamed out of offices and homes as the rally snaked through Bogota to the Andean capital’s main plaza.
...
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSN0459656620080205
Here is another story. Wow, between 1/2 a million to 2 million...
Colombians in huge Farc protest
People in Cali, Colombia, demonstrate against the Farc
Colombians in Cali demonstrate against the Farc
Hundreds of thousands of Colombians have poured onto the streets of Bogota to protest against Marxist Farc rebels.
The protesters waved flags and wore T-shirts with the slogan: “No more kidnapping, no more lies, no more deaths, no more Farc.”
Some estimates put the number of people protesting in Bogota at between 500,000 and two million.
...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7225824.stm
I thought they were all wearing white?
Another article. This one on Chavez links.
Diego Arria: Hold Chavez accountable for fueling narco-terrorism
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (R) and senior rebel commander Ivan Marquez of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) walk at Miraflores Palace in Caracas November 8, 2007.
...
havez’s minister of interior, Capt. Rodriguez Chacin, uttered these expressions of solidarity with the guerrillas after they finally freed two women held hostage in the jungle for more than five years: “On behalf of President Chavez, we are very attentive to your fight. Preserve your spirits, preserve your forces, and you can count with us. Comrades, be safe.”
...
the next day, Chavez himself came out of the closet and addressed Venezuela’s National Assembly, solemnly declaring his government’s political and ideological alliance with the FARC and ELN: “We respect them. They have a Bolivarian project” - meaning, a grand socialist agenda like his own.
At that statement, the Assembly - which his supporters totally dominate - stood up in rapturous applause.
...
http://www.petroleumworld.com/Lag08020401.htm
No mas FARC!
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Hugo is supporting these murderers.
My Colombian brethren said no to the FARC.
Chavez must be in his lair with a thumb up his ass.
Love it!!!
Good on them!
And good on the 3-5,000 good Americans that rallied at Corpus Christie Naval Air Base - this is how good people can take back their countries and drive the scum back into the sewers where they belong.
"We the People" - alive and well
It was enjoyable to see that there was a huge crowd protesting those scum bag commie FARC and Hugo Chavez lovers.
Today in California, I saw a small but impassioned anti-FARC rally in front of San Jose City Hall. There must be nutball leftheads exploding up in Berkeley (where, I believe, FARC’s website is hosted).
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