:Los Maniceros massacre

{{Infobox civilian attack

| title = Los Maniceros massacre

| image = Tachira in Venezuela.svg

| caption = The men's corpses were found scattered across Táchira in Venezuela.

| location = Táchira, Venezuela

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| type = Kidnapping and murder

| fatalities = 11

| injuries = 1

| perps =

| weapons =

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}}

The Los Maniceros massacre was the 2009 kidnapping in Colombia 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.

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 in Venezuela, according to Venezuela's Vice President Ramón Carrizales.{{Cite web|title=11th body in massacre on Venezuela border found|url=https://www.post-gazette.com/news/world/2009/10/29/11th-body-in-massacre-on-Venezuela-border-found/stories/200910290436|access-date=2022-01-05|website=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|language=en}} {{cite news|url=http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-43423820091025|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130201070306/http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-43423820091025|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 1, 2013|title=Colombian soccer players found dead in Venezuela|date=2009-10-25|accessdate=2009-10-25|work=Reuters India}} The kidnapped men were mostly Colombian; one was Peruvian and one Venezuelan.{{cite web|url=http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/bodies-found-10-kidnap-victims-venezuela|title=Bodies found of 10 kidnap victims in Venezuela|date=2009-10-25|accessdate=2009-10-25|publisher=Radio Netherlands Worldwide}}{{cite web|url=http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=346196&CategoryId=10717|title=Venezuela blocks Colombian mission to collect bodies|date=2009-10-28|accessdate=2009-10-29|publisher=Latin American Herald Tribune}}

Venezuela was on high alert following the incident,{{cite web|author=Ian James|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hEIbx9D3uqnqol--oD2Uk26WVf8gD9BIF4U01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091031230408/http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hEIbx9D3uqnqol--oD2Uk26WVf8gD9BIF4U01|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 31, 2009|title=Venezuela ups border security after 10 slayings|date=2009-10-26|accessdate=2009-10-26|publisher=Associated Press}} with troops in the area ordered to "act forcefully" against any armed Colombian group.{{cite web|author=Ian James |url=http://dailyme.com/story/2009102500003545/venezuela-ups-border-security-10-slayings.html |title=Venezuela ups border security after 10 slayings |date=2009-10-25 |accessdate=2009-10-26 |publisher=Associated Press |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091029154126/http://dailyme.com/story/2009102500003545/venezuela-ups-border-security-10-slayings.html |archivedate=October 29, 2009 }}

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.{{cite web|author=Will Grant|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8324496.stm|title=Colombian football team 'killed'|date=2009-10-24|accessdate=2009-10-25|publisher=BBC}}

= 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 by 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.{{cn|date=July 2021}} A motive has not been uncovered.{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/world/kidnapped-local-colombian-football-team-found-dead-20091025-hern.html|title=Kidnapped local Colombian football team found dead|date=2009-10-26|accessdate=2009-10-25|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald}}

Reaction

{{flagcountry|Colombia}}: President Álvaro Uribe called it a "deplorable act".{{cite news|url=http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/26/soccer-team-slayings-fuel-venezuela-colombia-rift/#|title=Soccer team slayings fuel Venezuela-Colombia rift|date=2009-10-26|accessdate=2009-10-26|newspaper=The Washington Times}} 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".
{{flagcountry|Venezuela}}: Vice President Ramón Carrizales linked the attack to Colombia's domestic troubles.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/ten-kidnapped-footballers-are-found-shot-dead-1809538.html|title=Ten kidnapped footballers are found shot dead|date=2009-10-26|accessdate=2009-10-26|newspaper=The Independent}}{{cite web|url=http://en.mercopress.com/2009/10/26/ten-colombian-amateur-soccer-players-killed-in-venezuela|title=Ten Colombian amateur soccer players killed in Venezuela|date=2009-10-26|accessdate=2009-10-26|publisher=MercoPress}}

In popular culture

This murder is referenced in Red Dead Redemption 2.{{Cite web|date=2020-09-17|title=Red Dead 2's Most Terrifying Mystery Explained|url=https://gamerant.com/red-dead-2-mystery-blackwater-athletics-murder-explained/amp/|access-date=2022-01-05|website=Game Rant|language=en-US}}