Former hostage Ingrid Betancourt called on U.S. President-elect Barack Obama to join the
November 28 march in support of the hostages by illegal armed groups in
Colombia.
“The international community is alert and will be even more when they see ‘rivers’ of Colombians. We have to convene elected President Obama to help us liberate the hostages. We have to convene all Presidents in the region,” Betancourt told U.S. radio.
According to Betancourt, it’s important to show compassion to the nearly 3,000 hostages held in Colombia by several illegal armed groups. “The most difficult time of the year for hostages is Christmas. They are listening to teh radio all year and in September they start hearing Christmas music, the party, the dancing,” the former politician said.
Betancourt hadn’t responded to a call by one of the organizers of the march, NGO Redepaz, to also pay tribute to victims of state violence.
The march is expected to be the fourth massive march in Colombia this year.