WashingtonA member of the US Navy has been detained by security forces in Venezuela, a US official announced on Wednesday.
“We are following the situation of a US Navy sailor who was detained in Venezuela by the security forces of that country,” the official said without giving details.
The State Department advises Americans against traveling to Venezuela because it believes there is a “high risk of unjust detention.”
“Security forces have detained U.S. citizens for up to five years,” the travel warning says.
“The U.S. government is generally not notified of the detention of U.S. citizens in Venezuela or granted access to Americans imprisoned there,” he added.
The military officer’s arrest took place amid a serious crisis in the Caribbean country.
The United States and the international community have increased pressure on Nicolás Maduro since the National Electoral Council (CNE) declared him the winner of the July 28 elections without publishing the details of the results.
The opposition led by Maria Corina Machado claims that Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, Maduro’s electoral rival, won the presidential election. Washington agrees that the evidence of his victory is overwhelming.
The crisis sparked a wave of protests across the country that left 27 dead – two of them soldiers – 192 injured and 2,400 arrested.
On Tuesday, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that Washington, in coordination with its allies, is considering “a series of options” to demonstrate to Maduro and his representatives “that their illegitimate and repressive actions in Venezuela have consequences.”
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil demanded that the United States not interfere in its affairs and respect Venezuela’s “sovereignty.”
On Monday, President Joe Biden’s administration announced that it had seized a plane belonging to Maduro that was in the Dominican Republic and flown it to Florida.
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– 2024-09-12 08:51:20
