Los Maniceros massacre
| Los Maniceros massacre | |
|---|---|
| File:Venezuela Tachira State Location.svg | |
| Location | Táchira, Venezuela |
|
Attack type
|
Kidnapping and murder |
| Deaths | 11 |
| Injured | 1 |
The Los Maniceros massacre was the 2009 kidnapping in Venezuela of twelve members of a Colombian amateur association football team Los Maniceros (The Peanut Men), eleven of whom were later murdered. The dead were aged between 17 and 38.[1]
A single survivor, 19-year-old Manuel Cortez,[1][2] sustained a bullet wound through his neck.[1] The eleven bodies were discovered in several locations across the state of Táchira in Venezuela, according to Venezuela's Vice President Ramón Carrizales.[1] [3] The kidnapped men were mostly Colombian; one was Peruvian and one Venezuelan.[2][4][5]
Venezuela is on high alert following the incident,[1] with troops in the area ordered to "act forcefully" against any armed Colombian group.[6]
Kidnapping
The men, nutsellers by trade,[7] were kidnapped and thrown into vans on 11 October 2009 in La Tala, Táchira, where they had come for a football match.[2][3] The kidnappers were disguised in black clothing and called the men's names before seizing them from a field on which they had been playing football.[1] Their bodies were discovered on 24 October 2009 with several bullet wounds.[7]
Survivor
Manuel Cortez is the only survivor. Security has been increased in fear for the safety of Cortez.[1] A man was arrested after requesting to see him in the hospital and Cortez was quickly placed under guard at a separate military hospital.[1] He claims they were all chained by their necks to trees and had spent two weeks in this condition outdoors in the sun.[1]
Suspects
The main suspect is the National Liberation Army (ELN), with Cortez blaming the group for the massacre.[2][4][7][8] He said they had been lured into the group's territory by its leader.[4] A motive has not been uncovered.[8]
Reaction
Colombia: President Álvaro Uribe called it a "deplorable act".[9] He said the massacre was an example that showed "terrorism is international, that it has no borders".[1] He expressed his hope that authorities would "take those terrorists to jail".[1]
Venezuela: Vice President Ramón Carrizales linked the attack to Colombia's domestic troubles.[10][11]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
