The kidnapping of Luis Díaz’s father has evolved in the last 24 hours from a security issue to a state matter. It was military intelligence that informed Defense Minister Iván Velásquez on Wednesday evening that an ELN unit was responsible for the kidnapping, endangering peace negotiations. Velásquez communicated this to the rest of the government and in a very short time a crisis cabinet was formed in the Nariño Palace. It was there that the statement published this Thursday was drafted, in which the ELN urged the immediate release of Mane Díaz, and it was decided that Otty Patiño, head of the Petro delegation to the peace talks, would from now on travel to Cuba to be in charge to meet with the guerrilla leadership. It was early morning when Patiño left the presidential residence and made his way to the island.
In those hours, according to the footballer’s entourage, Petro Luis Díaz called in England and announced that his father was in the hands of the guerrillas, although he reassured him by assuring him that the government was focused on the matter and hoped to solve it as soon as possible as soon as possible. as quickly as possible. According to the same sources, the footballer received another call this Thursday informing him that his release was imminent. “The process has already started and the father is on his way back. Nothing is negotiated here. “We have no choice but to release him immediately,” said someone involved in the talks, emphasizing that this was not an agreement but an urgent demand from the president.
In this crisis, Petro was as forceful as he was that day before the army generals when he told the guerrillas that they had only two paths: that of Camilo Torres, a guerrilla priest who was active in this organization and a pioneer of liberation theory, or that by Pablo Escobar, the drug trafficker who attacked Colombia with an army of killers in the 1980s. The path of virtue or that of crime and blood. The ELN felt very insulted and froze discussions at the peace negotiating table until the president recanted. He didn’t, but the negotiating skills of Senator Iván Cepeda and Peace Commissioner Danilo Rueda ensured that everything returned to normal. The new unforeseen event that threatens his entire project for total peace – the ambitious idea of disarming all illegal groups and eliminating the causes of violence – has once again thrown Petro out of his mind.
The Colombian international’s parents were kidnapped in their town of Barrancas on Saturday. They were at a gas station when some armed men on motorcycles picked them up. The first few hours were unsettling. In this area of La Guajira, a poor region on the Caribbean Sea, the army and police carried out a major operation. This immediacy of response meant that the kidnappers, faced with the danger of being captured, had to free the mother, Cilenis Marulanda. But Mane, the father, was unlucky and disappeared in this place, which is characterized by desert landscapes, but also by a large mountainous area and the Serranía del Perijá, which borders Venezuela.
The authorities initially assumed that the kidnapping had been carried out by a joint criminal group. There was speculation that Mane may have been transferred to Venezuela. It is now believed that it took place in Perijá, a foothills of the Andes Mountains between Colombia and Venezuela. This Thursday, Otty Patiño was responsible for announcing in a statement who was actually behind the kidnapping: “We demand the immediate release of Mr. Luis Manuel Díaz by the ELN and remind him that it is your sole responsibility, to guarantee his life.” and integrity.” “We remind the ELN that kidnapping is a criminal practice that violates international humanitarian law and that it is its duty in developing the current peace process not only to stop it, but also to eliminate them forever.” The statement is: Text.
The kidnapping, which immediately drew strong national and international condemnation, came amid a ceasefire between the ELN and the government that was initially agreed to last until February. The state delegation considers that the guerrillas are violating the agreement, but Pablo Beltrán, the armed rebels’ chief negotiator, once pointed out that, according to his very particular vision, they do not consider that the kidnappings or “retentions” comply with the established provisions corresponded. . In any case, the guerrillas do not seem to have carefully considered their actions. The entire country rejects the kidnapping, increasing pressure on the negotiating table that has been in operation for more than a year. Petro’s patience is running out and the ELN is running out of what little credit it has. The countdown to the release of Mane Díaz is on.
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