Kidnappers issue urgent demand before they release Luis Diaz's father
The guerrilla group holding Liverpool star Luis Diaz’s father hostage have demanded "security guarantees" in exchange for releasing him.
The left-wing ELN said it understood the anguish of his family in its first official statement since promising the world nearly four days ago it had started the process of securing Luis Manuel Diaz's release. Diaz made an emotional plea for his father to be freed after scoring against Luton on Sunday.
But in its response to that plea, the ELN accused the Colombian government of complicating things with the response triggered by the kidnap nine days ago when it swamped areas like the Perija Mountains near Barrancas in the Diaz family's home region of La Guajira with elite police and soldiers.
The ELN, which says a regional unit called the Northern War Front kidnapped Luis Manuel from his home town of Barrancas last Saturday afternoon, have issued a statement signed by the unit’s leader, Commander Jose Manuel Martinez Quiroz.
It said: “On November 2, we informed the country of the decision to release Mr. Luis Manuel Díaz, father of the player Luis Díaz. From that date, we began the process to accomplish this as soon as possible. We are making efforts to avoid incidents with government forces.
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“The area is still militarised, they are carrying out flyovers, disembarking troops, broadcasting and offering rewards as part of an intense search operation. This situation is not allowing for the execution of the release plan quickly and safely, where Mr. Luis Manuel Díaz is not at risk.
A fresh statement has been released by the rebel group behind the kidnapping of Luis Diaz's father (Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)"If operations continue in the area, they will delay the release and increase the risks. We understand the anguish of the Díaz Marulanda family, to whom we say that we will keep our word to release him unilaterally, as soon as we have security guarantees for the development of the liberation operation.”
The statement from ELN came after Diaz made a plea for his father to be released after he scored a dramatic equaliser against Luton in his first game since the kidnapping. Diaz lifted his shirt to reveal a message of "Freedom for papa" before releasing a statement of his own.
"Here’s not the player speaking. Today’s Lucho Díaz, the son of Luís Manuel Díaz. Mane, my dad, hard working man, family pillar… he’s now kidnapped. I ask ELN to release my father as soon as possible," he said.
"I also ask the international associations to work on that in order to guarantee his freedom. Every second, every minute we’re more worried. We’ve no words to describe our family’s terrible feelings, and it will be the same as long as he’s not back at home.
"I beg you to release my father right now, respecting his integrity. I want to thank to all Colombians and also the international community for your support. This goal is for the freedom of my father and all the kidnapped in my country. Thank you all for your support."
The ELN are a radical Marxist-Leninist group which was formed in 1964. It called a unilateral ceasefire in their war against the Colombian government in 2020 and have been in peace talks ever since.
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