Liverpool’s Luis Díaz and his father reunited for first time after kidnapping | Football

The amazing reunion between Liverpool’s Luis Díaz and his kidnapped father, who was held captive by a guerrilla group in northern Colombia, recently came to fruition.

Beautiful photographs shared by the Colombian Football Federation on X, formerly known as Twitter, captured the emotional embrace between the footballer and his father, Luis Manuel Díaz Jiménez.

The federation celebrated the homecoming of Luis Sr. with the heartwarming message “Welcome home Luchooo”. This joyous occasion coincided with the Colombian national team’s upcoming match against Brazil.

The harrowing incident occurred when armed men abducted Díaz’s parents from a gas station in Barrancas on 28th October. His mother was swiftly rescued, but his father’s ordeal lasted longer, leading to a widespread search and reward offers by the police.

Initially, the perpetrators of the abduction were unknown, but Colombia’s government later implicated a unit of the National Liberation Army (ELN). The group eventually admitted to the mistake and ordered the release of Luis Díaz’s father.

This tragic incident took place in the midst of peace negotiations between the Colombian government and the guerrilla group, sparking the arrest of four suspects by authorities over the weekend.

Colombia’s Ombudsman’s Office reports that between January 2022 and September 2023, armed groups carried out 160 kidnappings and 121 releases, shedding light on the prevalence of such crimes in the region.

Following Luis Díaz’s father’s release, the government’s peace talks delegation strongly urged the ELN to immediately release any remaining captives and cease their practice of kidnappings, underscoring the ethical implications of such actions.