Relatives of Colombian humanitarian worker jailed in Venezuela call for his release

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) – When rumors spread last week that Venezuela ‘s government would free several Colombians being held without trial in Venezuelan prisons, Diana Tique bought a plane ticket to travel to the border between the two countries to meet her brother.

But hopes of reuniting with her sibling vanished a few hours later, when she was informed that Manuel Tique, a 33-year-old humanitarian worker, was not included in the list of 18 Colombian citizens who were freed from Venezuelan jails on Friday.

“It was devastating,” Tique told The Associated Press at a coffeeshop in Bogota. “I will not be able to talk to him, and see how he is really doing.” Tique said she has only been allowed two phone calls with her brother since he was detained in Venezuela in September last year.

According to human rights groups in Venezuela and the U.S., there are approximately 80 foreign nationals being held in Venezuela without trial, including citizens of Spain, France, Colombia and the Czech Republic.

New York-based Human Rights Watch says these prisoners are being used as bargaining chips by Venezuela’s government as it tries to get political leverage with countries that have refused to recognize last year’s reelection of President Nicolas Maduro, a vote that the Venezuelan president has been widely accused of stealing.

“These are very grave cases, that underscore the regime’s persecution of foreign nationals” said Martina Rapido Raguzzino, a researcher for the Americas Division at HRW.

Humanitarian groups say that many of the foreign nationals who have been detained in Venezuela entered the country as tourists and were detained at border posts.

Most are now being held in a prison known as Rodeo One, where visits and phone calls are rarely allowed. “We know that in Rodeo One there are conditions that are tantamount to torture” Rapido Raguzzino said.

Manuel Tique was detained on Sept. 14 last year after presenting 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 headed to Venezuela to deliver a workshop to local aid groups on how to monitor food and medicine distribution.

Diana Tique said she was never notified by Venezuelan authorities of her brother’s detention.

But a month after Tique’s arrest, Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello spoke about him in a TV program, where he accused the Colombian and several other foreigners of participating in a plot to overthrow Maduro.

Cabello said that Tique went to Apure to “recruit mercenaries,” a claim his family vigorously denies.

“My brother is not a terrorist” said Diana Tique, adding that he had not traveled outside Colombia before his ill fated trip to Venezuela.

Tique said that she has not been able to find a lawyer who will defend her brother in Venezuela, and requests to visit him have gone unanswered.

She fears that Tique could be sentenced to a lengthy prison term if he is not freed as part of a deal between the governments of Colombia and Venezuela.

Colombia’s government has not recognized the results of last year’s election in Venezuela, although its leftist president has strengthened diplomatic ties with Venezuela’s government, and criticized a U.S. naval build up near Venezuela’s shores.

On Friday, Colombia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said it will continue to hold talks with Venezuela to seek the release of its citizens from Venezuelan prisons. The Venezuelan human rights groups Penal Forum said there are still 20 Colombian nationals jailed in Venezuela without trial.

In July, the United States secured the release of 10 American citizens from Venezuelan prisons through a prisoner swap that included the release of 250 Venezuelan migrants deported by the Trump administration to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

Six Americans were also freed by Venezuela in February after Trump envoy Richard Grenell met with Maduro in a visit that critics said helped the Venezuelan president legitimize his rule, following his widely disputed election las year.

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Associated Press writer Jorge Rueda contributed to this report from Caracas, Venezuela