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Colombian President Gustavo Petro has said the kidnappers of Liverpool star Luis Diaz have not kept their promise to release him and his situation is becoming ‘very dangerous’.
The left-wing rebel group ELN, designated a terrorist organization by the US government and the EU, was identified Thursday as the organization responsible for the kidnapping of Luis Manuel Diaz.
A female guerrilla fighter known only by her alias Patricia, who heads a regional ELN unit called the Northern War Front, orchestrated the crime, Colombian media reported earlier on Friday.
The ELN, which is currently in peace talks with the government after declaring a ceasefire in the long-standing war against the Colombian state, had promised to secure the release of 58-year-old Diaz within hours after he was the guilty had been identified. .
Speaking on an official visit to the US from Washington, Mr Petro said: ‘The authorship of the ELN means that today the ELN is responsible for the life of Luis Diaz’s father.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has stated that the kidnappers have not kept their promise to release Luis Diaz’s father
Reports in Colombia had suggested that Diaz’s (left) father Luis Manuel (right) could be released in the coming hours
The Liverpool star’s mother (above in 2019, center left) was rescued after the pair were snatched from the streets of Colombia last week, but his father’s whereabouts remain unknown
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“It has committed an act that is contrary to the peace process.
“I must express my deepest rejection, not only because I kidnapped Luis’ father, but also because in the subsequent developments they failed to free him.
“A desire has been expressed on the part of the ELN leaders to free him as soon as possible.
“But the hours pass, and as time goes on, the situation Mr. Diaz finds himself in becomes very dangerous.
Petro revealed on Thursday that he had personally spoken to the Liverpool player to reassure him about the government’s efforts to free his father.
The footballer spoke to the director of the Colombian National Police shortly after his father was kidnapped from his hometown of Barrancas on Saturday.
Members of the Colombian army searched the public at checkpoints in Barrancas, La Guajira after the kidnapping.
The director of the Colombian National Police had also spoken to Diaz and stated that everything was being done to find his father
Colombian police are looking for Diaz’s father, who was arrested at gunpoint on Saturday
Following last weekend’s kidnapping, land, air and sea operations are underway
Luis Diaz’s mother, Cilenis Marulanda (center) led a community march Tuesday demanding the release of her husband, Luis Manuel Diaz.
Hundreds of local community members joined forces, dressed in white balloons and held them
Diaz (left) was pictured training for Liverpool on Friday amid the ongoing situation
The director general of the Colombian National Police, William Rene Salamanca Ramirez, told the troubled striker that everything was being done to find the missing 58-year-old.
On Thursday evening, after the Colombian government confirmed that the ELN was behind the kidnapping, Petro confirmed that he had spoken to the footballer.
He said on his official Twitter site: “We spoke to Luis Diaz yesterday. We work for the liberation of his father.’
Luis Diaz’s mother, Cilenis Marulanda, was also kidnapped on Saturday but was abandoned by her captors hours later as police and military intensified the hunt for those responsible.