▁and ▁were ▁also ▁supported ▁by ▁local ▁Colomb ian ▁media ▁out lets ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁the ▁Colomb ian ▁government . ▁Part icip ation ▁estimates ▁vary ▁from ▁the ▁hundreds ▁of ▁thousands ▁to ▁several ▁millions ▁of ▁people ▁in ▁Colombia ▁and ▁thousands ▁world wide . ▁ ▁K ira z ▁Jan ic ke ▁of ▁the ▁left ist ▁and ▁ch av ista ▁website ▁Venez uel analysis ▁critic ised ▁the ▁r al lies , ▁claim ing ▁that ▁" right - wing ▁par amil it ary ▁leaders ▁featured ▁prom in ently " ▁in ▁their ▁organisation ▁and ▁arg uing ▁that ▁workers ▁were ▁also ▁press ured ▁to ▁attend ▁the ▁gather ings . ▁According ▁to ▁her , ▁the ▁purpose ▁of ▁the ▁protest s ▁was ▁to ▁promote ▁" Uri be ' s ▁policy ▁of ▁perpet u ating ▁Colombia ' s ▁dec ades - long ▁civil ▁war ." ▁Short ly ▁before ▁the ▁r al lies ▁took ▁place ▁th ir teen ▁dem obil ised ▁A UC ▁par amil it ary ▁leaders , ▁including ▁Salv atore ▁Man cus o , ▁had ▁expressed ▁their ▁support ▁of ▁the ▁protest ▁through ▁a ▁commun ique . ▁However , ▁this ▁move ▁was ▁rejected ▁by ▁organ iser ▁Carlos ▁And rés ▁Santiago , ▁who ▁stated ▁that ▁such ▁an ▁end ors ement ▁was ▁harm ful ▁and ▁critic ised ▁the ▁A UC ' s ▁actions . ▁ ▁On ▁ 2 0 ▁July ▁ 2 0 0 8 , ▁a ▁subsequent ▁set ▁of ▁r al lies ▁against ▁F AR C ▁included ▁thousands ▁of ▁Colomb ians ▁in ▁Bog ot á ▁and ▁hundreds ▁of ▁thousands ▁throughout ▁the ▁rest ▁of ▁the