BARRANQUILLA, Colombia (AP) 鈥 Liverpool soccer player Luis D铆az was reunited Tuesday with his father, who was kidnapped in northern Colombia by a unit of a guerrilla group in late October and released last week.
Photographs posted on the Colombian Football Federation's account on X, formerly Twitter, captured the striker and his father, Luis Manuel D铆az Jim茅nez, hugging each other.
With the message 鈥淲elcome home Luchooo,鈥 the federation announced the arrival of the elder D铆az to Barranquilla, where the Colombian national team is set to play against Brazil on Thursday.
Armed men on motorcycles kidnapped D铆az鈥檚 parents from a gas station in the small town of Barrancas on Oct. 28. His mother, Cilenis Marulanda, was rescued within hours by police who set up roadblocks around the town of 40,000 people, which is near Colombia鈥檚 border with Venezuela.
After the kidnapping, special forces were deployed to search for D铆az鈥檚 father in a mountain range that straddles Colombia and Venezuela. Police also offered a $48,000 reward for information that led to him.
It was initially unclear who carried out the abduction. Colombia鈥檚 government subsequently announced that it had information that a unit of the 香港六合彩挂牌资料 Liberation Army, or ELN, was responsible. in the kidnapping,
The group later acknowledged the kidnapping, saying it was a mistake and that its top leadership had ordered the father's release.
Diaz鈥檚 parents were taken amid peace negotiations between Colombia鈥檚 government and the guerrilla group.
Authorities arrested four suspects over the weekend.
Colombia鈥檚 Ombudsman鈥檚 Office estimates that between January 2022 and September 2023, armed groups carried out 160 kidnappings and 121 releases.
After , the government鈥檚 peace talks delegation demanded in a statement that the ELN immediately free anyone it still 鈥渉as in captivity鈥 and end its practice of kidnappings.
鈥淚t 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,鈥 the statement said.
