AFTER THE RELEASE OF LUIS DÍAZ’S FATHER IN COLOMBIA: ‘A COMPROMISE IS URGENTLY NEEDED’​

The kidnapping and subsequent release of Luis Manuel Díaz, father of Colombian soccer player Luis Díaz, who plays for Liverpool of England, marks a before and after in the peace negotiations that the government of Gustavo Petro is advancing with the ELN guerrilla.

Various political and social sectors in Colombia explain that a credible and reliable negotiation is only possible if this armed group stops kidnapping and releases all those who are being held against their will, and whose families are extorted as a mechanism to finance their activities.  

The Colombian newspaper El Tiempo published an editorial on the matter this Friday, November 10. It explains the case and its effects. Below, with the authorization of the Colombian newspaper, associated to EditoRed, we reproduce the content:

“It should be celebrated that the infamous kidnapping of Luis Manuel Diaz, which kept the country in suspense and outraged, has had a fortunate outcome.

“The nightmare ended yesterday with the delivery of Diaz to a humanitarian commission composed of representatives of the Ombudsman’s Office, the United Nations Verification Mission, the Episcopal Conference and the Red Cross in Valledupar. Once released, Diaz was able to hug his family and friends in Barrancas and communicate with his son, who is expected to be in the country soon to be part of the Colombian National Team that will play against Brazil and Paraguay in the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

“Having turned this page, we must be emphatic that this episode has to mark a before and an after at the negotiating table with this armed group. If it had already been insisted that a commitment from ‘Gabino’s’ men to stop kidnapping was fundamental, a purpose that was only half accepted and that, as it was quite clear, was not fulfilled, now this has to be an immovable requirement. In this sense, the position established by the government delegation at the dialogue table, through a communiqué, demanding not only that this practice ceases but also that all the hostages currently held by the ELN be released, is timely and necessary. It must also be recognized that the government delegation pointed out its counterpart as responsible for the kidnapping from the very first moment and demanded that the father of the Liverpool soccer player be released immediately.

“As much as the desire is for this guerrilla to surrender their weapons, this desire cannot be superimposed on the reality of what the kidnapping of Manuel Diaz means for the process. That the ELN has the fortitude to recognize that this act was extremely serious is fundamental to rebuild confidence and continue advancing. If before the act there were already many reflectors on the negotiation, the pressure of the opinion is now tripled. There is no margin for a new mockery, for a new episode that, like this one, proves right those who doubt that these guerrillas have any intention of laying down their arms and returning to civility.

Therefore, the only acceptable thing is for the ELN to release, as we have already said, the 30 hostages it is holding and to commit itself, without nuances, without ambiguity, to a real and verifiable cease-fire. This is the only way to save the process. That the new ceasefire has a real impact on the tranquility of Colombians who today continue to suffer the criminal actions of this guerrilla, which has not responded to the outstretched hand offered by the Government.

“It is untenable to argue, from an ethical point of view, that trading with human beings is licit, even under conditions of armed conflict”, the Government negotiators have rightly expressed in yesterday’s communiqué. The time has come for the ELN to make it clear whether it is interested in peace and respect for human rights or whether it is interested in the insatiable greed of organized crime that destroys the environment and forces civilians to live under constant fear”.