Father of Liverpool striker Luis Díaz released after his kidnapping in Colombia by ELN guerrillas

By ASTRID SUÁREZ and MARKO ÁLVAREZ
Associated Press

BARRANCAS, Colombia (AP) — The father of Liverpool striker Luis Díaz was released Thursday by members of a guerrilla group who kidnapped him in northern Colombia, the government announced, ending a 12-day ordeal for the family.

Luis Manuel Díaz’s kidnapping on Oct. 28 from his hometown of Barrancas had quickly drawn international attention and appeals for his release. On Sunday, the younger Diaz pleaded for his father ’s freedom after scoring for Liverpool in a Premier League soccer match, revealing a T-shirt saying “Freedom for Papa” in Spanish.

The release by members of the National Liberation Army, or ELN — which has called the kidnapping a mistake — was announced by the government delegation that currently is in peace negotiations with the guerrilla group.

The elder Díaz, wearing a green shirt and baseball cap, waved to well-wishers later Thursday as he arrived back to his hometown in the La Guajira region, escorted by authorities. He spoke emotionally to his neighbors through a megaphone.

“Thanks to God for this second opportunity, to bring me back home, and thanks to all the people of Barrancas, La Guajira, and Colombia for the immense support they have given to my family,” he said.

It was initially unclear who carried out the abduction. But Colombia’s government announced last week that it had information that Díaz was kidnapped by an ELN unit. The ELN later acknowledged the kidnapping, saying it was a mistake and that the group’s top leadership had ordered the elder Díaz’s release.

An ELN statement Sunday said that the planned release was hampered by military deployments in northern Colombia and that it couldn’t guarantee a safe release under those circumstances. The Colombian military said Monday that it was shifting its positions to facilitate a release.

Both parents of Liverpool’s Díaz had been kidnapped by armed men on motorcycles at a gas station in Barrancas. But the footballer’s mother, Cilenis Marulanda, was rescued within hours by police who set up roadblocks around the town of 40,000 people, which is near Colombia’s border with Venezuela.

After the kidnapping, special forces had been deployed in the area to search for Díaz’s father in a mountain range that straddles both countries and is covered by cloud forest. Police also had offered a $48,000 reward for information leading to him.

“These really have been quite the agonizing days, with great uncertainty,” Alfonso Diaz, a cousin of Luis Manuel Díaz, told The Associated Press. “But always with faith placed in God for the best outcome because our family does not deserve an attack of this magnitude.”

The United Nations and the Catholic Church helped facilitate the handover, and their representatives received Díaz’s father Thursday in the area of the mountain range Serranía del Perijá, where he received primary medical care.

He was then taken by helicopter to Valledupar, a community about 56 miles (90 kilometers) from Barrancas, his native town in the northeastern part of the country. His neighbors in Barrancas welcomed him with music and cheers while police guarded his family’s home.

“Mane is a man with a very humble heart, a man who has fought to raise his children,” Barrancas resident Mayulis Lindo Redondo said, using the elder Díaz’s nickname.

The 26-year-old striker is one of the most talented players on Colombia’s national team. He joined Liverpool in a deal worth $67 million. The team tweeted it was “delighted by the news” of Díaz’s father release.

On Thursday, the forward started and played 81 minutes in Liverpool’s 3-2 loss to Toulouse a few hours after his father was released. Before the Europa League match, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said Díaz was “really happy” with the news that his father was freed.

Colombia’s Ombudsman’s Office estimates that between January 2022 and September 2023, armed groups carried out 160 kidnappings and 121 releases.

After Díaz’s father was released, the government’s peace talks delegation demanded in a statement that the ELN immediately free anyone it still “has in captivity” and end its practice of kidnappings.

“It is unsustainable to argue, from an ethical point of view, that trading with human beings is legal, even under the conditions of an armed conflict,” the statement said.

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Suarez reported from Bogota. Associated Press writers James Robson in Manchester, England, and Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.