It is a brazen, shocking kidnap that has stunned the world.
Last Saturday night, as he was resting ahead of Liverpool’s game against Nottingham Forest, Luis Diaz — the brilliant Colombian forward and darling of the Kop — got a call that changed everything.
How they were kidnapped
The 26-year-old learned the news from home that his parents had been snatched at gunpoint and bundled on to stolen motorbikes as they stopped to pick up watermelons at a petrol station.
They were in their Kia car — red, of course — at 5.10pm local time when the gang struck.
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Amid widespread outrage, a nationwide manhunt was launched.
Diaz’s mother, Cilenis Marulanda, was rapidly located in what was described as a ‘padlock operation’ which saw roads closed and checkpoints set up.
She was abandoned by her captors, who kept hold of Diaz’s father.
Helicopters were scrambled, with infrared heat-seeking detectors activated. Squadrons of specialist commandos and sniffer dogs were deployed and fingertip searches of six kilometres of jungle commenced.
Rescue teams
A reward of 200 million pesos (£40,500) was offered for information and 250 police and military were scrambled.
The president immediately ordered the director general of police to the scene.
On Merseyside, the story has been one of agonising frustration and human compassion.
Diaz was immediately desperate to race home — only for family to tell him his return would increase the risk.
Back home, in the parish church of San Jose, dozens — including family and friends — gathered for a candlelit vigil and Mass. Thousands attended prayer chains in squares across the country.
Then came another twist in a stomach-churning week.
Statement from Colombian government
On Thursday a statement was released by the Colombian government which announced that the kidnap had been carried out by ELN (translated as National Liberation Army), a left-wing group of anti-government guerillas considered terrorists by the US and EU.
The swoop is said to have been overseen by a 40-year-old woman known only as Patricia, a veteran agitator said to have spent half her life at war with the government.
Later reports claimed that Luis Manuel Diaz would be released ‘within hours’. But as of last that had not transpired and Colombia’s president Gustavo Petro said the kidnappers have not come good on their promise to release him and his situation is becoming ‘very dangerous’.
Who is responsible for the kidnapping of the father of Luis Diaz?
Speaking from Washington during an official visit to the US, Mr Petro said: ‘The ELN is responsible for the life of the father of Luis Diaz. It has committed an act that contravenes the peace process.
‘I have to express my most profound rejection because they have not been able to free him.
‘There is an expressed wish on the part of the ELN leaders to free him as soon as possible. But the hours are passing, and as this goes on, the situation in which Mr Diaz is in becomes very dangerous.’
ELN released a statement
However, late on Friday night ELN released a statement reiterating their desire to release Luis Manuel and confirming the process had already started.
‘We salute Colombia and the Caribbean,’ the group said in a statement released to El Colombiano.
‘We are in solidarity with the families who experience pain and tragedies due to unemployment, the criminal violence of paramilitarism and the abandonment of the State. The corruption of political clans is the main threat to the stability of the region.
‘The Northern War Front has commands with economic missions and one of them carries out a privation of freedom, which, after being reported and verified that it is the priest of Lucho Diaz, is guided by his release because he is a family member of the great sportsman that we all love as Colombians.
‘From that moment on, the release process begins and we want to avoid any incident. Firm in the search for the paths of peace, with the necessary transformations that the country needs. From the Caribbean.’
Mr Petro revealed he had spoken to Luis Diaz personally to reassure him about the government’s efforts to free his father.
If it were not so real, it would read like the fast-paced plot of a Hollywood film. But this is not California. This is Colombia. And, to many in the country, although there is outrage, there is also a lack of the surprise felt elsewhere.
‘It’s difficult to say it but kidnap is normal here,’ one local explained. ‘It is a part of everyday life.’
According to the Colombian police’s Anti-Kidnapping Unit, abductions increased by 93 per cent this year.
Usually, a ransom is asked for. Often it is paid. Poverty is a motivation, as is funding for armed gangs and their illegal operations. In this case, the motive remains unclear.
What provoked the kidnapping
Many believe the likelihood of kidnap increased in January last year, when the man affectionately known as ‘Lucho’ signed a deal that could reach £50million to take him to Anfield from Porto, and his parents decided to stay in their impoverished hometown.
Usually, ELN kidnappings lead to resolution involvement from international bodies such as the United Nations.
Elsewhere in politics, Colombia’s ambassador to the UK has called for his nation’s World Cup qualifier against Brazil on November 17 — due to be held in Barranquilla, where Diaz first dazzled — to be postponed should Diaz Snr not be released by then.
Liverpool’s Latin American group are said to have ‘stepped up’ as Diaz is not fluent in English. Visits from team-mates to his home, on the outskirts of the city, have been regular this week. At all times he has had support and those involved have worked hard to ensure he has at no point walked alone.
