The Los Maniceros massacre was the 2009 kidnapping in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

of twelve members of a

n amateur

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team ''Los Maniceros'' (The Peanut Men), eleven of whom were later murdered. The dead were aged between 17 and 38. A single survivor, 19-year-old Manuel Cortez, sustained a bullet wound through his neck. The eleven bodies were discovered in several locations across the state of

Táchira Táchira State ( es, Estado Táchira, ) is one of the 24 states of Venezuela. The state capital is San Cristóbal. Táchira State covers a total surface area of and as of the 2011 census, had a population of 1,168,908. At the end of the 19t ...

in Venezuela, according to Venezuela's Vice President

Ramón Carrizales Ramón Alonso Carrizales Rengifo (born 8 November 1952) is a Venezuelan politician who was the vice president of Venezuela from January 2008 to January 2010. Carrizales was a Colonel of the Venezuelan Armed Forces (retired in 1994) and was educat ...

. The kidnapped men were mostly Colombian; one was

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

vian and one Venezuelan. Venezuela was on high alert following the incident, with troops in the area ordered to "act forcefully" against any armed Colombian group.

Kidnapping

The men, nutsellers by trade, were kidnapped and thrown into vans on 11 October 2009 in La Tala, Táchira, where they had come for a football match. 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. Their bodies were discovered on 24 October 2009 with several bullet wounds.

Survivor

Manuel Cortez is the only survivor. Security was increased in fear for the safety of Cortez. A man was arrested after requesting to see him in the hospital and Cortez was quickly placed under guard at a separate military hospital. He said they were all chained in their necks to trees and had spent two weeks in this condition outdoors in the sun.

Suspects

The main suspect is the left-wing National Liberation Army (ELN), with Cortez blaming the group for the massacre. He said they had been lured into the group's territory by its leader. A motive has not been uncovered.

Reaction

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Álvaro Uribe Álvaro Uribe Vélez (born 4 July 1952) is a Colombian politician who served as the 31st President of Colombia from 7 August 2002 to 7 August 2010. Uribe started his political career in his home department of Antioquia. He held offices in t ...

called it a "deplorable act". He said the massacre was an example that showed "terrorism is international, that it has no borders". He expressed his hope that authorities would "take those terrorists to jail". *:

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

linked the attack to Colombia's domestic troubles.

In popular culture

This murder is referenced in

Red Dead Redemption 2 ''Red Dead Redemption 2'' is a 2018 action-adventure game developed and published by Rockstar Games. The game is the third entry in the ''Red Dead'' series and a prequel to the 2010 game ''Red Dead Redemption''. The story is set in 1899 and f ...

References