A motorcycle caravan made up of about 60 Colombian riders departed Madrid Friday for the Vatican where they are to meet the pope to press for the release of hostages in Colombia and around the world. It is led by Colombian radio journalist Herbin Hoyos, who is famous for broadcasting relatives' messages to hostages being held by left-wing guerrillas in the Latin American country on his "Voices of Kidnapping" show.
Hoyos said he hoped the trip would raise awareness in Europe that not all Colombian hostages were freed in the military operation which secured the release of French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt in July 2008.
Betancourt was perhaps the best-known hostage of the FARC, the Spanish acronym for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The group is believed to still be holding between 350 and 700 hostages.
- This caravan represents all kidnapped people around the world who we demand be freed - he said, citing the hostages being held in El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and Venezuela as examples.
He also mentioned Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who was taken captive by Palestinian militants in a cross-border raid as well as the 36-member crew of a Spanish tuna trawler being held by Somali pirates.
The caravan will pass through Barcelona, Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Milan and Genoa before it is scheduled to arrive in Rome on November 18 where they are to be received at the Vatican by Pope Benedict XVI, a distance of 5,000 kilometres (3,100 miles).
The riders plan to give the pontiff a white helmet offered by the family of a hostage which is decorated with the symbol of the procession: a motorcycle and a condor with its wings spread.
About 100 people are taking part in the trip, including the passengers on the motorcycles.
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