National Post (National Edition)
American journalist arrested in Venezuela
U.S. senators outraged over detention
CARACAS• The United States Wednesday demanded the immediate release of an American journalist, who was reportedly arrested by Venezuelan military intelligence in an earlymorning raid on his home in Caracas.
Agents of the Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence detained Cody Weddle, who has reported for The Daily Telegraph, and Carlos Camacho, his Venezuelan assistant, at 8 a.m. local time Wednesday, a Venezuelan press union said. The whereabouts of both was unknown.
The arrest risks further escalating tensions between the government of Nicolas Maduro and the U.S., which along with more than 50 other countries has recognized Juan Guaido, the National Assembly leader, as Venezuela’s legitimate president.
Wednesday, the U.S. State Department said Weddle must be freed immediately, unharmed, adding that Maduro “prefers to stifle the truth rather than face it.”
Weddle, a freelance journalist, has lived in Caracas since 2014.
Neighbours who witnessed the raid said he was arrested on an order signed by a military tribunal, the National Press Workers Union reported. His computer and equipment were seized.
There were reports that Weddle had been accused of treason, though that could not be independently confirmed.
U.S. senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott of Florida expressed outrage at the detention.
Scott said the U.S. would “not stand for this intimidation.”
Jose Miguel Vivanco, the director of the U.s.-based Human Rights Watch, said it was very worrying, adding the Maduro government was doing “the only thing it knows how to do: repress and censor.”
Luis Almagro, secretarygeneral of the Organization of American States, castigated the “oppressive usurper regime of Venezuela,” calling for an end to the intimidation and censorship of journalists in the country.
Venezuelan security forces have detained 49 reporters, some of them briefly, so far this year, according to Espacio Publico, a press monitoring organization. The group is investigating the circumstances of Weddle’s detention but had yet to receive any explanation from the authorities, it said.
Analysts warned that the arrest could draw a forceful response from the U.S., which has raised the prospect of military intervention and Wednesday revoked 77 visas of individuals linked to the Maduro government.
“Given the current state of relations between the U.S. and Venezuela, having military intelligence arrest a U.S. citizen ... seems like unnecessary provocation,” said Phil Gunsion of the NGO Crisis Group.