This is a surprising admission that the leader of the Colombian guerrilla of the ELN (National Liberation Army) made on his Telegram channel. “The retention of Luis Diaz’s father by the Northern War Front [une unité du groupe] was a mistake,” Antonio Garcia wrote. “Lucho is a symbol of Colombia, that’s what we think of him in the ELN,” he added, using the nickname of Diaz, 26, the Liverpool striker.
Luis Manuel Diaz and his wife Cilenis Marulanda, who has since been released, were kidnapped on October 28 from a gas station in Barrancas, the family’s hometown, near the border with Venezuela in the northeast of the country. , by armed men riding motorcycles. According to the army, more than 250 soldiers are searching “by air and land” for the father of the Colombian international in the neighboring region of Serrania del Perija. On Wednesday, ELN peace negotiators acknowledged to their government counterparts that guerrilla members were holding Diaz’s father.
A desire for ransom
In a Telegram message on Saturday, Antonio Garcia said the ELN’s central command was overseeing efforts to free the footballer’s father and had asked its units to cooperate. “We hope that the operational situation on the ground can be resolved, these are the guidelines that commanders must follow to accelerate the release,” he said.
Local media published a statement purporting to come from the Northern War Front, in which rebels said they kidnapped Diaz’s father for ransom without realizing it was the soccer star’s father. This statement could not be independently verified. The incident threatened to derail peace negotiations between the rebel group and left-wing President Gustavo Petro, which are taking place under a six-month ceasefire.