The National Liberation Army (ELN) of Colombia released this Thursday the father of the football player Luis Díaz, whom it had kidnapped for twelve days. Luis Manuel Díaz was handed over by his captors to a United Nations and Church mission, which, as soon as they received him, took him to the city of Valledupar in an armed forces helicopter. The kidnapping, which shocked the entire country, has seriously jeopardized peace negotiations between the government and the guerrillas, who agreed to a ceasefire three months ago that have now clearly been broken. The athlete spent his worst days in England, where he plays for Liverpool. The good news reached him just before he took the field to face Toulouse.
In his first words shortly after arriving in his city of Barrancas, Mane Díaz thanked God and all of Colombia for the “great support” of these days. “I love her very much and soon I will have the opportunity to greet and hug her,” he added. The government delegation negotiating peace with the guerrillas announced the release in a statement calling for the freedom of the remaining abducted people: “We note with joy the release of Don Luis Manuel Díaz. He was also able to return safely to his family and community. We hope you will soon find peace, troubled by an event that should never have happened.”
In theory, the liberation has been in the works since November 3rd. That day, the guerrillas released a statement assuring that the process was beginning, but it took six days to complete. Colombian President Gustavo Petro is desperate at the slow pace of its implementation. The ELN attributed the delay to the huge military presence in the area, which they said prevented them from safely repatriating the victim. To facilitate the handover, the army and police suspended the search operation in the Serranía del Perijá, on the border with Venezuela, where he was allegedly held. In the end, a corridor was created through which the guerrillas could travel and hand over Mane Díaz, with humanitarian organizations acting as witnesses.
The soccer player’s parents were kidnapped on October 28 in Barrancas, his city. The couple was filling up at a gas station when some armed men on motorcycles took them away – the ELN later said they did not know they were the soccer player’s parents, but that hardly sounds credible, everyone in the area knows the couple very well. Police and army immediately sent a large force to the area to try to find them. Due to the pressure of the siege, the kidnappers were forced to release her mother, Cilenis Marulanda, but managed to keep Mane. From that moment on, nothing was known about his whereabouts. Barrancas, a town of 38,000 inhabitants in La Guajira, a region on the Caribbean Sea, took to the streets to demand his release and celebrated the return home of his neighbor this Thursday.
Luis “Mane” Díaz receives medical care after his release.Colombian Episcopal Conference
His captors did not contact the authorities or the family in the following days. There was speculation that Mane was in the power of a local mafia who had been watching him for some time. The police had warned him some time ago about the risk of kidnapping and, among other things, advised him not to visit a coffee farm that he owns in the mountains. One of the authorities’ initial hypotheses was that the kidnappers had hidden him in Venezuela to avoid police and military pressure. They offered a $50,000 reward to anyone with information that would help find him.
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The case took a turn on November 1, when military intelligence informed Defense Minister Iván Velásquez that the ELN was responsible for the kidnapping. A crisis cabinet was immediately formed in the Casa de Nariño, the presidential residence. Petro called Díaz to inform him of the new news. On the one hand, the torment of the kidnapping remained, but at least those responsible had already been identified and, thanks to the negotiating table, there was a direct dialogue with them. Responsible for the conversation with the guerrilla leadership was Otty Patiño, the head of the government delegation to the dialogues, who traveled to Cuba in the following hours.
Negotiations proceeded much more slowly than expected by Petro, who unsuccessfully sought immediate release. It is clear that the onslaught is incompatible with the ELN, one of the world’s last guerrillas. The combatants have tensed the situation to the extreme, for what purpose is unknown, and in the process have turned all public opinion against them, which has a direct impact on the peace process. It has also been shown that the representatives of the table do not control all ELN cells, that they act independently and are not necessarily in favor of demobilization. It could happen like the extinct FARC, which largely gave up its weapons but small dissident groups remain stationed in the mountains.
The country enthusiastically welcomed Petro’s proposed negotiations to disarm a group that has been in power for 60 years as soon as he came into government. But over time and if the dialogue does not progress, people lose patience. Acceptance was around 65% and has now fallen to 51%. The kidnapping of Mane Díaz was a strange move, since he is the father of an absolute idol of Colombians. He never had privileges, he was born in a humble environment, like millions of his fellow citizens, and he achieved success and fame for his enormous effort and talent. The fact that the violent part of Colombia paid him in this way caused great unease in the country.
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