ELN rebels in Colombia delaying release of Luis Diaz’s father،
The release of Liverpool footballer Luis Díaz’s father by Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group will be delayed while military operations continue in the region, the group said.
Díaz’s mother, Cilenis Marulanda, and father, Luis Manuel Díaz, were stopped by armed men while driving in La Guajira province on October 28. Marulanda was released within hours.
The reason for their kidnapping is not immediately clear, but security sources say the ELN, Colombia’s most radical left-wing guerrilla group, has long financed its operations through kidnappings, as well as extortion and drug trafficking.
Although the ELN said the Colombian international’s father would be released “as soon as possible”, the presence of Colombian security forces in the area hampered his release, the group said in a statement seen by Reuters on Sunday evening .
“The area is still militarized, there are flyovers, troop deployments, megaphone broadcasts, reward offers and an intense search operation,” the statement said, adding that these conditions did not allow the release by Luis Manuel Diaz. “If operations continue in the area, the release will be delayed and the risks will increase.”
The Colombian government said last week that the ELN was responsible for the kidnapping.
The rebel group and the government are engaged in a ceasefire as part of peace talks aimed at ending the ELN’s role in Colombia’s six-decade internal armed conflict, which has caused at least 450,000 dead.
Interior Minister Luis Fernando Velasco said last Thursday that the situation was “very serious” and violated the ceasefire agreement.
Díaz revealed a message for his father after scoring a late equalizer for Liverpool against Luton Town in the Premier League on Sunday.
The 26-year-old lifted his shirt to reveal a message underneath that read: “LIBERTAD PARA PAPA” (“Freedom for Dad”).
