November 3 – Colombia’s government says that the guerrilla group National Liberation Army was responsible for holding the father of Liverpool striker Luis Díaz.
A representative of the organisation was quoted as saying they would be freeing him “as soon as possible” just days after kidnapping him in northern Colombia.
Both Diaz’s parents were taken by armed guards at a petrol station last Saturday in the small town of Barrancas.
His mother, Cilenis Marulanda, was rescued within hours by police who set up roadblocks near Colombia’s border with Venezuela but his father remains at large. Residents of Barrancas held a candle-lit march earlier this week to demand the release of Díaz Snr.
Peace talks between the ELN and the government restarted last year in hopes of ending the group’s part in a 60-year conflict that has killed at least 450,000 people.
Interior Minister Luis Fernando Velasco said the current situation was “very serious” and that it violated the ceasefire between the government and the rebels.
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