Dozens of Canadians joined hundreds of thousands of people in Colombia and abroad Monday in a protest against the largest rebel group in the South American country.

The idea of the protests against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, was born less than a month ago on the social networking Web site Facebook. Nearly 100,000 people in 165 cities around the world confirmed their participation.

In Winnipeg, about three dozen people protested in front of a downtown shopping mall over the lunch hour.

"We want them to know that the FARC is a terrorist group that commits terrorist acts," said organizer Orlando Carvajal, who emigrated from Colombia about eight years ago.

"They don't represent the people from Colombia at all. That's why we are gathering here, to show that they don't have our support"

A group of about 60 Colombian ex-patriates held a protest in Charlottetown, singing the South American country's national anthem, displaying its flag and carrying signs calling for an end to the violence in the country.

Marches were also planned in Toronto, Calgary and Montreal. A major event was scheduled Monday night on Parliament Hill.

Colombia is one of the top 10 countries of birth for recent immigrants, according to Statistics Canada's 2006 census, with 25,310 Colombians arriving between 2001 and 2006.

The FARC is in its fifth decade of trying to overthrow Colombia's central government. The rebels, Latin America's largest guerrilla army, use kidnapping to raise funds and pressure the state.

"Freedom! Freedom!"

Worldwide, protests were concentrated in Colombia and Latin American capitals, though there were smaller protests in other places including Sweden, Hungary, France, Italy, India and Miami.

In Colombia's capital, the protest swelled, with long lines of people shouting "Freedom! Freedom!" while marching along Bogota's main thoroughfare. Television channels suspended normal programming to broadcast marches around the country. In between reports, the channels aired proof of life videos of hostages who remain captive in FARC's camps in the jungle.

Colombia's government says FARC is holding more than 700 hostages.

The rebel group have called the march an attempt to bolster the political fortunes of its enemy, President Alvaro Uribe.

Uribe addressed a packed public square in the northeastern city of Valledupar on Monday.

"To our fellow countrymen who live abroad, and who today have united with the rest of their compatriots, we want to extend our gratitude," he said.

With files from the Associated Press