Bogota - His feet blistered from a 100-kilometre hike, Johan Martinez, 11, makes a strange grimace that reveals a mix of satisfaction and sadness. Campaigning for Marxists rebels to free the father he has never met, Johan's three-day walk ended Friday after a sojourn from his native village, Ospina, to the provincial capital of Pasto in south- western Colombia on the border with Ecuador.
The effort vaulted Johan to national celebrity and riveted the Colombian public's attention to the issue of abductions.
He went on his walk to ask the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to free Army Sergeant Jose Libio Martinez, who was captured in December 1997.
Among the military personnel abducted in a FARC assault on an Army communications base on Patascoy mountain in Narino province, only two remain in captivity: Martinez and Sergeant Pablo Emilio Moncayo, whose release was announced by the rebels in April but has not yet materialized.
They are among 22 Colombian military and police officers currently held by FARC as politically leverage in efforts to gain release for about 500 FARC members held in government prisons. In addition, the rebels hold hundreds of kidnapped civilians, mostly to seek ransom to help bankroll their more than 40-year civil war.
Born a few weeks after his father's kidnapping, Johan recently decided to take his case public. His own campaign was inspired by Gustavo Moncayo, a school teacher who became prominent in Colombia through long treks to seek the release of his son, Pablo Emilio, from FARC captivity.
Two years ago, Moncayo led a walk for several days between his native Sandona, also in Narino, and Bogota. Later, the science teacher walked from Bogota to Caracas, where he thanked Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for his efforts to gain the release of several hostages in 2008.
Continuing his public relations campaign against kidnappings, Moncayo has had himself chained hand-and-foot in solidarity with FARC captives.
Johan, leading a march of about 300 schoolmates and teachers, was welcomed in Pasto like a champion athlete. Flowers, Colombian flags and T-shirts with slogans calling for FARC to halt abductions were on display to make the boy forget his aching feet.
With great maturity for his age, Johan addressed the crowd in Pasto's central square, taking out piece of paper so as to remember to thank all the people who helped in the quest for his father.
"I do this walk for his freedom, so that he may return by my side to be happy," Johan said, "to share beautiful moments of life."
He stopped, closed his eyes and could not hold back tears.
His mother, Claudia Tulcan, said that Johan is obsessed with the idea of meeting his father and had vowed to pursue the campaign for his release.
One man in Pasto, a spectator cheering the boy's arrival, told reporters: "It's an incredible effort. That's where you see the love he says he has for his father. I hope this achieves something."
