Millions Rally for Colombian Hostages

On Sunday, Colombia's Independence Day, marchers once again took to the streets wearing white T-shirts, waving the country's tri-colored flag and demanding, "Free them now."

In Bogota, John Bermudez, an economist whose father was seized by the group in 1993, said he has never voted for Uribe. But he called the FARC "anachronistic" and said the guerrillas now have scant political support.

"I'm here because we're against people who hold other people against their will in order to further their own political objectives," Bermudez said. "That's wrong."

In Paris, demonstrators heard speeches and swayed to songs by the Colombian rocker Juanes and Spain's Miguel Bosé. In Leticia, a town in the southern tip of Colombia, marchers cheered the pop star Shakira, and in Bogota, the Philharmonic played Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, which celebrates brotherhood.

"This time, Colombia is united for the same purpose," said Valeriano Lanchas, an opera singer who performed before tens of thousands in Bogota's largest park. "We want the people who are kidnapped in the jungle freed. And now."

Those who most yearn to see the hostages freed include de Mendieta. Her two children were small when their father was captured. Both are now university students.

In his letters, he thanks her for waiting for him.

"He tells me that he still loves me," she said. "That he hopes that one day his captivity will end and we'll be reunited as a family, and that we'll continue with our dreams."