Luis Diaz’s father ‘snatched by notorious Colombian guerrillas known for kidnap and massacres’ as net closes on lair
THE dad of Luis Diaz is said to have been snatched by a notoriously violent Colombian guerrilla group.
The Liverpool star’s parents were kidnapped on Saturday night by armed gunmen at a gas station in their hometown of Barrancas, La Guajira.
The winger’s mum, Cilenis Marulanda, was later found in Barrancas but her husband remains missing.
Colombia’s authorities said today that the guerrilla group National Liberation Army, known as ELN, was responsible for the man’s kidnapping.
ELN, notorious for massacres and kidnappings is aligned with the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
The peace delegation of the government, which is currently in negotiations with ELN, said in a statement it was officially aware that the kidnapping had been perpetrated by a unit that belongs to ELN.
“We demand that the ELN releases immediately Mr. Luis Manuel Daz and we say as of now that they are entirely responsible to secure his life and integrity, “said Otty Patio, who leads the peace delegation.
Colombian cops believe the lair of the kidnapping gang is located in the inhospitable jungle terrain of the Perija Mountains near the Venezuelan border.
A massive police operation was launched and even sniffer dogs were brought in to locate the footballer’s missing dad.
German Shepherds Laticha and Tekila joined the hunt and Colombian police chiefs say more will be introduced as they close in on Luis Manuel Diaz’s captors.
The country’s army has already been joined by an elite police anti-drugs commando squad specialising in complex jungle operations to find the 58-year-old.
Seven potential locations have been identified by police intelligence as part of an operation to stop the captors from reaching Venezuela with their hostage.
The hunt is reportedly focusing on the banks of rivers and streams in the Perija Mountains – on the basis that the gang needs to be near water to survive.
Columbia’s Ombudsman Carlos Camargo said yesterday: “We reiterate the call to the captors of the father of our beloved Lucho Díaz: respect his integrity and life.”
Earlier this week, the footballer urged his Instagram followers to “march for the release of Mane Diaz”.
As well, Colombia’s attorney general, Francisco Barbosa revealed Luis Manuel Diaz’s potential location and confirmed it is possible the winger’s father could be taken to Venezuela.
The Attorney General added that he had contacted Diaz twice to provide the 26-year-old with updates on the investigation.
Colombia President Gustavo Petro said “all the public forces have been deployed” to find Diaz’s father.
The police, alongside the Colombian military, were immediately mobilised as a full-scale operation to recover the pair was put in place on Saturday.
In a statement, the army said it had set up roadblocks and deployed two motorised platoons, unmanned aircraft, helicopters, and a plane with radar in the search for his father.
On Sunday, the director of the National Police, General William Rene Salamanca, announced a reward of “up to 200m pesos” (about £40,000) for any information that leads to the rescue of Diaz’s father.
In 2016, the Marxist group FARC signed a historic peace treaty with the national government of the day.
In an emotional open-air ceremony, President Juan Manuel Santos welcomed the communists into the political sphere after signing the deal with rebel leader Rodrigo Londono, alias Timoleon “Timochenko” Jimenez.
The ceremony in the city of Cartagena on the Caribbean coast followed a four-year process to end the last major armed conflict in the Americas.
Colombian authorities estimate the territorial and ideological conflict has killed 260,000 people, left 45,000 missing and uprooted 6.9million.
The FARC launched its guerrilla war against the Colombian government in 1964, after a peasant uprising that was crushed by the army.
Over the decades, the conflict drew in several leftist rebel groups, right-wing paramilitaries and drug gangs.
The Marxist-Leninist group, which in Colombia is called the ELN, was founded in 1964 by radical Catholics inspired by Cuba’s communist revolution.
It was behind a car bombing in January 2019 at a police academy in Bogota which killed 21 people and injured 68 others, making it one of the deadliest attacks ever in the Colombian capital.
Peace talks have been going on between the ELN and the Colombian government since March 2020 when the guerrilla group declared a unilateral ceasefire during the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic.
It was not immediately clear last night whether it had yet made a ransom demand to release the Liverpool striker’s father.
In an official statement attributing the kidnapping to the ELN, the Colombian government delegation taking part in the peace talks said: “We have today been made aware the kidnap carried out on October 28 in Barrancas in the La Guajira region, which Luis Manuel Diaz and Cilenis Marulanda the mother and father of football player Luis Fernando Diaz Marulanda were victims of, was perpetrated by a unit belonging to the ELN.
“Despite Mrs Marulanda being freed hours later, the player’s father has now been kidnapped for five days.
“As the government delegation for the peace talks with the ELN, we express our solidarity with Luis Diaz, his relatives, with the whole country and with the millions of fans of the footballer.
“We demand the ELN frees Mr Luis Manuel Diaz immediately and we make it clear here that it is their sole responsibility to guarantee his life and integrity.
“We remind the ELN that kidnap is a criminal practice which violates International Humanitarian Law and that in the current peace talks process, it is their responsibility not only to stop committing this crime but also to eliminate it for ever.”