Commander of Colombia’s Armed Forces General Fredy Padilla de Leon called on famed “Las Voces del Secuestro” (Voices of the Abducted) radio show host Herbin Hoyos to organize a protest march to demand that the FARC release their hostages, reports Caracol Radio on Tuesday.
Hoyos, who hosts a show that broadcasts messages to kidnap victims from their relatives, responded to Padilla’s request by saying that he would travel back from Spain to Colombia in the coming days and move forward with plans to organize a march, not only in Colombia but internationally as well.
In 2009, the Colombian radio show host had to flee the country after surviving an assassination attempt from the FARC. He relocated to Spain where he continued with his show.
General Padilla de Leon’s call to Hoyos comes two days after “Operation Chameleon,” in which Colombian authorities successfully rescued four hostages the FARC were holding in a remote jungle camp.
The rescue of the four men, General Luis Mendieta, Sergeant Arbey Argote, Colonel Luis Enrique Murillo, and Colonel William Donato, who spent twelve years in FARC captivity, was the result of a three-month operation that, according to the military, started after the capture of “Marcos Parrilla,” a member of the FARC’s 1st Front, which is responsible for the captivity of the hostages.
Seventeen members of Colombia’s police and army still remain in FARC captivity, one of whom, Corporal Jose Martinez, has been held hostage for thirteen years.