Liverpool drew 1-1 with Luton Town in Sunday’s Premier League match. The equalizing goal was scored in the 95th minute by Luis Fernando Diaz Marulanda, also known as “Lucho” Diaz. After scoring the goal Diaz lifted his Liverpool shirt to reveal a message underneath that said: “Libertad para papá” (Freedom for dad).
Both Parents Kidnapped
On Oct. 29, 2023, Diaz’s parents were kidnapped by armed men at a gas station in Barrancas, Colombia. His mother was rescued by police a day later, with a “major military search” announced to locate his father, Luis Manuel Diaz.
Diaz missed Liverpool’s next two Premier League matches immediately after the kidnapping. Teammate Diogo Jota held up Diaz’s shirt during a goal celebration against Nottingham Forest. After the game, manager Jürgen Klopp stated “it was clear we had to give the game an extra sense and it was fighting for Lucho.”
“Every second, every minute our anxiety grows,” Diaz said in a statement on Sunday. “My mother, my brothers and I are desperate, anxious and have no words to describe what we are feeling. This suffering will only end when we have him home with us.”
The Colombian government reported the National Liberation Army, ELN, as the culprits responsible for the kidnapping. Interior minister Luis Fernando Velasco said the situation was “very serious” and that it violated a ceasefire between the government and the rebels.
Kidnapping Part Of Ongoing Conflict In Colombia
ELN representative Juan Carlos Cuellar said in a video statement released to Reuters that Diaz would be released:
We salute Colombia and the Caribbean.
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 father 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.
A six-month ceasefire between Colombia’s government and the ELN began in August. There are ongoing peace talks with hopes of ending the 60-year conflict.