{"id":115867,"date":"2023-11-02T11:11:04","date_gmt":"2023-11-02T11:11:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/11\/02\/colombians-march-for-release-of-footballers-father\/"},"modified":"2023-11-02T11:11:04","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T11:11:04","slug":"colombians-march-for-release-of-footballers-father","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/11\/02\/colombians-march-for-release-of-footballers-father\/","title":{"rendered":"Colombians march for release of footballer’s father"},"content":{"rendered":"

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GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

Image caption: Residents of Barrancas marched through the town to demand the safe return of Luis Manuel D\u00edaz<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Residents of the Colombian town of Barrancas have held a candle-lit march to demand the release of the father of Liverpool footballer Luis D\u00edaz.<\/p>\n

Luis Manuel D\u00edaz was kidnapped at gunpoint along with his wife on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The player\u2019s mother was left behind in a car by the kidnappers as police closed in, but the gunmen dragged away his father.<\/p>\n

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Specialised police units are searching the area with sniffer dogs.<\/p>\n

Shouting \u201cfreedom\u201d and dressed in white T-shirts emblazoned with a photo of Luis Manuel D\u00edaz, hundreds of people marched through Barrancas on Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n

\"Alfonso
Image caption: D\u00edaz\u2019s grandfather Alfonso was among those taking part in the candle-lit vigil<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI feel a pain deep in my soul,\u201d resident Alis Amaya told local station Caracol news.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an injustice that someone from our town, a son of a local family should be suffering this pain and sadness,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Luis Manuel D\u00edaz, also known as Mane, is a well-known and popular figure in Barrancas, where he trains young footballers.<\/p>\n

CCTV footage broadcast by local media appears to show men on motorcycles following the couple\u2019s car just before they were seized at a petrol station in Barrancas on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The deputy head of the Colombian police, General Nicol\u00e1s Zapata, told journalists that \u201cwhen something like this happens, it\u2019s not spontaneous, there is prior planning\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Colombian authorities have stepped up their search for Luis Manuel D\u00edaz.<\/p>\n

Barrancas is located in La Guajira province, in the extreme north of Colombia, an area where several guerrilla groups and armed gangs operate.<\/p>\n

Police and soldiers are focusing their search on the Perij\u00e1 mountains, a dense forest straddling the Colombia-Venezuela border.<\/p>\n

Police Chief William Salamanca announced on Tuesday that two sniffer dogs with experience of searching for people in jungle areas had been flown to the area to join in the search.<\/p>\n

Elite police units are using helicopters and planes equipped with heat-seeking cameras to fly over the forest.<\/p>\n

They have also dropped leaflets with a photo of Luis Manuel D\u00edaz and the offer of a 200m-peso reward ($50,000; \u00a340,000) for information on Luis Manuel D\u00edaz\u2019s whereabouts.<\/p>\n

On Monday, police said that they had identified a number of individuals \u201clinked to the kidnapping\u201d but did not say who they were.<\/p>\n

They have, however, said that he appears to have been seized by a criminal gang rather than a guerrilla group.<\/p>\n

There are a number of gangs which engage in smuggling, extortion and people trafficking on both sides of the porous border.<\/p>\n

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