The National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas, currently in peace negotiations in Colombia, are responsible for the kidnapping of Luis Manuel Díaz, father of Liverpool player Luis Díaz.
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Thus, the information was released by the Colombian government this Thursday (2). It is worth remembering that Manuel Díaz was kidnapped last Saturday, in the department of La Guajira, Northern Colombia.
The authorship was announced in a statement made by Otty Patiño, the government’s chief negotiator with the ELN, the largest rebel group on the continent at the time.
As a result, the incident could threaten ongoing peace talks between the ELN and the government, which were restarted last year.
The nation is trying to end the group’s participation in the country’s 60-year conflict, which has killed at least 450,000 people.
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The government and ELN began a six-month ceasefire in August as part of negotiations.
“We remind the ELN that kidnapping is criminal, it violates international humanitarian law and that its duty in building the peace process is not just to stop (kidnapping) but to eliminate it forever,” said Otty Patiño, head of the delegation of peace government, in a statement.
Speaking to Reuters, a spokesperson for the guerrilla group said they were “investigating the issue.”
Diaz’s mother, Cilenis Marulanda, and father, Luis Manuel Diaz, were kidnapped by armed men while driving in La Guajira province. Although Marulanda was released a few hours later, the football player’s father remains missing.
“We demand that the ELN immediately release Luis Manuel Diaz and remind them of their duty to protect his life and guarantee his safety”, said Patiño.
The director of the Colombian Police, General William Salamanca, offered a reward of 200 million Colombian pesos (around R$240,000 at current prices) for “information that allows the rescue of Luis Manuel Díaz and the capture of those responsible for this crime”.
Liverpool and Colombian national team striker ‘Lucho’ Díaz, a 26-year-old Wayuu indigenous man, did not comment on the kidnapping.