Luis Diaz’s mum holds back tears in emotional plea as she urges guerrilla kidnappers to release Liverpool star’s dad
LUIS Diaz’s mum fought back tears today as she urged her husband’s guerrilla kidnappers to release him from his eight-day ordeal.
Cilenis Marulanda made her impassioned plea as she took part in a second march to demand Luis Manuel Diaz’s freedom.
Wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with her husband’s face and the message ‘your family is waiting for you’, she told reporters: “I want them to release him now.
“That the people who are keeping him free him now back to me, because we want to have him back home.”
The 58-year-old was taken hostage at gunpoint alongside his wife on Saturday October 28 at a petrol station in Colombia.
The kidnap by communist ELN rebels is believed to have been masterminded by a 40-year-old female fighter called Patricia.
Colombian authorities have offered a reward of $200,000,000 Peso (£40,600) for Luis Diaz’s return.
The kidnap sparked outrage in the South American nation, where Luis Diaz is immensely popular and plays for the national team.
CCTV footage showed the Díazes being followed by men on motorbikes in their hometown of Barrancas, in the northern province of La Guajira.
Gunmen then accosted the couple at a petrol station, leaving Cilenis, before police closed in.
Protests demanding Luis’s release took place in their home town today.
Police have been combing the mountainous Serranía del Perijá area near the Venezuelan border for Diaz during a frantic week-long hunt.
The horror meant Liverpool winger Diaz missed two games for his club but he appeared in Sunday’s fixture against Luton.