Relatives of Colombian humanitarian worker jailed in Venezuela call for his release
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — As rumors spread last week Venezuelan government will release some people Colombians Diana Tique, who is being held without trial in Venezuelan prisons, bought a plane ticket to go to the border between the two countries to meet her brother.
But his hopes of being reunited with his brother were dashed a few hours later when it was learned that 33-year-old humanitarian worker Manuel Tique was not on the list of 18 Colombian citizens released from Venezuelan prisons on Friday.
“It was devastating,” Tique told The Associated Press at a cafe in Bogota. “I won’t be able to talk to him and see what he’s really like.” Tique said he had been allowed only two phone calls to his brother since he was detained in Venezuela in September last year.
bargaining chips
According to human rights groups in Venezuela and the United States, approximately 80 foreign nationals, including US citizens, are not being detained or tried in Venezuela. SpainFrance, Colombia and Czech Republic.
based in new york Human Rights Watch He says these prisoners are being used as bargaining chips by the Venezuelan government, which is trying to gain political influence over countries that refused to recognize re-elections held last year. President Nicolas MaduroA vote that Venezuela’s president is widely accused of stealing.
“These are very serious cases that highlight the regime’s persecution of foreign nationals,” said Martina Rapido Raguzzino, a researcher for HRW’s Americas Division.
Humanitarian aid groups say that many foreign nationals detained in Venezuela entered the country as tourists and were detained at border gates.
Most are currently being held in a prison known as Rodeo One, where visits and phone calls are rarely allowed. “We know that there were conditions tantamount to torture at Rodeo 1,” Rapido Raguzzino said.
‘I am not a terrorist’
Manuel Tique was detained on September 14 last year after showing his passport at a border post in Apure, a large and sparsely populated state in southern Venezuela.
The 33-year-old was working for the Danish Refugee Council, an international non-profit organization that helps displaced populations, and was traveling to Venezuela to lead a workshop on how to monitor the distribution of food and medicine to local aid groups.
Diana Tique said she was never informed of her brother’s detention by Venezuelan authorities.
But a month after Tique’s arrest, Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello spoke about Tique on a TV show and accused the Colombian and several other foreigners of participating in a conspiracy to overthrow Maduro.
Cabello said Tique went to Apure to “recruit mercenaries,” a claim his family vehemently denies.
“My brother is not a terrorist,” Diana Tique said, adding that she had not traveled outside Colombia before her ill-fated trip to Venezuela.
prisoner swaps
Tique said that he could not find a lawyer to defend his brother in Venezuela and his requests to visit him went unanswered.
He fears Tique will face a long prison sentence if he is not released under an agreement between the Colombian and Venezuelan governments.
The Colombian government did not recognize the results of last year’s elections in Venezuela; but the leftist president has strengthened diplomatic ties with the Venezuelan government and criticized the US strengthening of naval forces near the Venezuelan coast.
On Friday, Colombia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it would continue talks with Venezuela to release its citizens from Venezuelan prisons. Venezuelan human rights group Criminal Forum said there were still 20 Colombian citizens imprisoned without trial in Venezuela.
In July, the USA secured release The removal of 10 American citizens from Venezuelan prisons through a prisoner swap that included the release of 250 Venezuelan immigrants deported by the Trump administration to a notorious prison in El Salvador.
Six Americans Trump’s envoy, Richard Grenell, was released by Venezuela in February after a visit with Maduro that critics said helped the Venezuelan president legitimize his rule after his widely disputed election last year.
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Associated Press writer Jorge Rueda contributed to this report from Caracas, Venezuela
