In September, she met with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe at the United Nations.
"This is great for mankind," said Joao Crisostomo of New York, who organized a petition among Portuguese American associations across the country in support of freedom for the hostages.
"People were in danger of being killed," Crisostomo said, "but they were not neglected, they were remembered."
Armand Burguet, a supporter of Rosano who lives in Belgium and started the website betancourt.info to raise awareness about the hostages, said the site crashed from thousands of viewers trying to access it as news of the rescue spread. "I was surprised," he said. "We've been fighting for a long, long time. We never felt that we would succeed."
Lisa Cabrera, 39, Rosano's best friend from San Diego, said the two have spent many nights praying for the hostages' safety, comfort and release.
Rosano knew from news reports, messages to relatives and conversations with a former hostage that her son, who suffers from hepatitis, was often chained at the neck to other prisoners.
"Jo says she'll have a big party," Cabrera said, "and I've got my ticket ready for when that happens."
--
erika.hayasaki@latimes.com
