The newly appointed chief of Colombia's army has said he is willing to meet with footballer Juan Quintero to discuss his father's disappearance more than 20 years ago.
Gen. Eduardo Zapateiro said during a military ceremony on Monday that he "shares the pain" of Quintero's family, and added he is willing to meet with the Colombia international, who plays for River Plate, to discuss his father's final days.
Jaime Quintero was last seen in 1995 at an army base in the city of Carepa, which was then commanded by Zapateiro. According to Quintero's relatives, Jaime was carrying out his compulsory military service, and disappeared after falling out with Zapateiro, who wanted to transfer him to another base due to his unruly behaviour.
Following Zapateiro's appointment as army chief last week, Quintero's relatives gave interviews on local media in which they complained about the general's promotion, saying he still had not answered questions on Jaime's disappearance.
Quintero, who was two years old when his father went missing, took to Twitter on Monday morning, asked for a meeting with the general and said that he had the right to know the truth about his father.
Zapateiro denies involvement in the disappearance of Jaime Quintero, and in a statement published on Monday the military cited investigations conducted by local courts, which blamed rebel groups for the crime.
According to Colombia's National Center for Historical Memory, more than 80,000 people were forcibly disappeared in Colombia between 1958 and 2015, as the military and rebel groups fought for control of rural areas.