{"id":23682,"date":"2023-11-12T19:30:57","date_gmt":"2023-11-12T19:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/?p=23682"},"modified":"2023-11-12T08:54:13","modified_gmt":"2023-11-12T08:54:13","slug":"luis-diazs-father-speaks-for-first-time-since-kidnap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/luis-diazs-father-speaks-for-first-time-since-kidnap","title":{"rendered":"Luis D\u00edaz’s father speaks for first time since kidnap"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Eritrea. <\/strong><\/span>Luis Manuel Di\u0301az, the father of Liverpool striker Luis Diaz, has spoken publicly for the first time since being freed by a Colombian guerrilla group.<\/p>\n

Mr Di\u0301az said he was made to walk “too much” with little sleep, while he was kept in a mountainous area.<\/p>\n

“I would not want anyone to be in that mountain in the situation I was in,” he told reporters in a tearful interview.<\/p>\n

Mr Di\u0301az was abducted on 28 October in his family’s hometown of Barrancas in Colombia.<\/p>\n

In a news conference on Friday, the 58-year-old said those days had been a “very difficult” time for him.<\/p>\n

Colombian police say four people have been arrested for being “allegedly responsible for Luis Manuel Di\u0301az’s kidnapping”, according to local media.<\/p>\n

Police say that after a co-ordinated effort between Colombian and British authorities, a criminal group called “los primos” was dismantled.<\/p>\n

Mr Di\u0301az was held hostage until 9 November, when members of the National Liberation Army (ELN) handed him over to United Nations and Catholic Church officials.<\/p>\n

Police had originally said that a criminal gang was most likely to blame for the kidnapping.<\/p>\n

But a government delegation later said it had “official knowledge” that the kidnapping had been carried out by “a unit belonging to the ELN”.<\/p>\n

The ELN is Colombia’s main remaining active guerrilla group. It has been fighting the state since 1964 and has an estimated 2,500 members.<\/p>\n

It is most active in the border region with Venezuela, where Luis Manuel Di\u0301az and his wife live.<\/p>\n

The Liverpool footballer’s mother Cilenis Marulanda, who was kidnapped at gunpoint alongside Mr Di\u0301az, was released within hours.<\/p>\n

While his father was held by the ELN, the Colombian-born Liverpool footballer repeatedly called for his release.<\/p>\n

Days before his father’s release on Thursday, Di\u0301az scored a goal against Luton and lifted his shirt to reveal the words in Spanish “freedom for papa”.<\/p>\n

His family’s plight captured Colombia, as residents of the town of Barrancas held a candle-lit march to demand Mr Di\u0301az’s release.<\/p>\n

It all comes amid ongoing peace negotiations between the Colombian government led by President Gustavo Petro and the ELN.<\/p>\n

Mr Petro has come under strong criticism from the opposition over the negotiations, with former Colombian president A\u0301lvaro Uribe saying “with kidnappings there can be no peace”.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Eritrea<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Eritrea. Luis Manuel Di\u0301az, the father of Liverpool striker Luis Diaz, has spoken publicly for the first time since being freed by a Colombian guerrilla group. Mr Di\u0301az said he was made to walk “too much” with little sleep, while he was kept in a mountainous area. “I would not want anyone to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":23681,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[242,243,233],"class_list":["post-23682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-eritrea","tag-eritrea"],"yoast_head":"\nLuis D\u00edaz's father speaks for first time since kidnap - Eritrea<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Luis Manuel Di\u0301az, the father of Liverpool striker Luis Diaz, has spoken publicly for the first time since being freed b ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/luis-diazs-father-speaks-for-first-time-since-kidnap\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Luis D\u00edaz's father speaks for first time since kidnap\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Luis Manuel Di\u0301az, the father of Liverpool striker Luis Diaz, has spoken publicly for the first time since being freed b ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/luis-diazs-father-speaks-for-first-time-since-kidnap\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Eritrea\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-12T19:30:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/sites\/27\/2023\/11\/sm_1699766497.490879.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"561\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/luis-diazs-father-speaks-for-first-time-since-kidnap#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/luis-diazs-father-speaks-for-first-time-since-kidnap\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Luis D\u00edaz’s father speaks for first time since kidnap\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-12T19:30:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/luis-diazs-father-speaks-for-first-time-since-kidnap\"},\"wordCount\":415,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/luis-diazs-father-speaks-for-first-time-since-kidnap#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/sites\/27\/2023\/11\/sm_1699766497.490879.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Eritrea\",\"Eritrea\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/luis-diazs-father-speaks-for-first-time-since-kidnap#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/luis-diazs-father-speaks-for-first-time-since-kidnap\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/luis-diazs-father-speaks-for-first-time-since-kidnap\",\"name\":\"Luis D\u00edaz's father speaks for first time since kidnap - 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