"No more kidnappings! No more deaths! No more lies! No more FARC!" read posters and T-shirts displayed by UF students and faculty at the March for Peace in Colombia held on the Plaza of the Americas Monday.
A crowd of about 50 rallied for the establishment of peace in war-torn Colombia under the direction of the Colombian Student Association, known as COLSA.
Collaborators in 130 cities throughout the world also joined in the effort.
The main goal of the march was to raise awareness about the terrorism currently affecting the country at the hands of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
FARC is a guerilla group that surfaced in the 1940s and is notorious for taking hostages to use as bargaining chips in return for political leverage, said Andres Sandoval, an entomology graduate student.
FARC has taken 5,000 hostages in the last four years and is currently holding 750, Sandoval said.
Wearing white T-shirts symbolizing peace, rally participants gathered in small clusters to listen to excerpts read from newspaper articles about FARC hostages and survivors.
Pilar Mendoza, assistant professor in the Department of Educational Administration and Policy, sat within the circle clutching a picture of a friend and former colleague that was kidnapped by FARC last week.
"Hostages become human shields," Mendoza said.
Hostages are used to get the government to comply by clearing areas for the exchange of guerrilla prisoners for civilian hostages, said Sandoval, a COLSA member .
Sandoval also pointed out that 80 percent of the world's kidnappings and land mine casualties occur in Colombia.
While other guerilla terrorist groups exist in Colombia, the peace march targeted FARC because it takes the largest amount of hostages.
Lina Suarez, a third-year public relations major, described FARC as an umbrella organization, fostering the growth of other terrorist factions.
Carlos Silvera, a second-year chemical engineering student, stood by holding his own sign accusing the Colombian government of terrorist behavior similar to that of FARC.
Silvera's problem with the protest was that it blamed only FARC for the current state of violence in the country.
"If we really want peace in Colombia, we need to target all sources of violence, including the government," Silvera said.
After COLSA members urged Silvera to focus on the effects instead of the cause, he joined the group to promote a peaceful resolution.
Rally members concluded the event with a moment of silence for hostages detained by FARC.
"This is not a march for the government of Colombia," Sandoval said. "This is a march for the people."
