The government demands the release of the gendarme imprisoned in Venezuela and accuses Chavismo of taking hostages.

Tuesday December 17, 2024, 1:32 p.m.

Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein said the arrest of agent Nahuel Gallo constitutes “illegal pruning”. Security Minister Patricia Bullrich responded to Diosdado Cabello, accusing him of being “a ruthless dictator.”

The Argentine government demands the release of Nahuel Gallo, a gendarme detained in Venezuela, and accuses Chavismo of using extortion methods by taking hostages. Gerardo Werthein described this detention as “illegal pruning shears” in statements made to Radio Miter. For her part, Patricia Bullrich responded to the comments of the Venezuelan Minister of the Interior and Justice, Diosdado Cabello, calling him a “fascist” and denouncing his character as a “ruthless dictator”.

Werthein argued that Cabello broadcasts “lies to justify the illegal pruning of a fellow Argentinian” and declared: “I think that sooner or later, all these violations of human rights, of civil rights, and of people’s rights will be brought to justice, because inevitably, justice will triumph in the end. In the meantime, we demand the immediate release of the gendarme.”

The minister also disputed Venezuelan claims that Gallo had traveled abroad, saying immigration documents prove he was based in Uspallata.

“Venezuela makes every day difficult. The statements are completely false. Immigration reports do not show that he traveled around the world, he was based in Uspallata and only made trips to Chile”added Werthein.

He stressed that “all the narrative” provided by the Venezuelan government “does not correspond to reality,” because Gallo has a two-year-old Argentine daughter and his Venezuelan wife had come to visit her mother. “She went to see her and he was arbitrarily arrested, accused of carrying out missions,” he said.

“Nahuel Gallo’s movements are recorded by the Migration Directorate and will be published soon. We have embassy employees who have been imprisoned, accused or indicted for numerous crimes, with families at risk”he clarified.

Regarding diplomatic efforts, the minister mentioned that steps had been taken with the United Nations, specifying that he would have liked the president of the UN to be personally involved in this matter “instead of promoting politically biased resolutions”. “What can we expect from Venezuela, a country that does not respect the rule of law? How long will we have to tolerate this? Isn’t it enough to falsify results? Isn’t it enough to ignore human rights?” he asked.

To conclude, he indicated that the government is in contact with Brazil to try to bring Gallo back to Argentina, while emphasizing that “the situation is highly complex” given the “different parameters” existing between those who live in states of law and those who are under “dictatorships” where democratic functioning is altered.

“This cannot be tolerated. “That an Argentinian visitor is taken away and that information is falsified corresponds to a method of trying to persist despite everything and all Venezuelans,” he concluded.

At the same time, Bullrich said: “Would a constable go solely on a conspiracy mission, taking only a suitcase to see his son and his partner? Venezuela’s argument is simply not serious, it is a very fragile regime. They accumulate prisoners, Americans, Brazilians, Colombians, Uruguayans, Spaniards, applying the same logic to them.”

The Minister of Security warned: “Last year, negotiations took place with the United States regarding the entrepreneur Alex Saab, linked to the Chavista leader Nicolás Maduro, exchanged for ten American prisoners; I think they are now considering doing something similar. Saab has a history of money laundering and is a frontman for the regime, and to ensure their protection they capture people, tourists, normal civilians and take them hostage, that’s a hypothesis,” he said. she added.

Bullrich also called Cabello a “ruthless, torturer dictator,” in response to his accusation of fascism. She said: “They are seeking to have hostages because of the political precariousness in which this government finds itself, which lost the elections and is trying to stay in power on January 10, regardless of popular will. They are building the worst dictatorship in Latin America.”

Good to know

• The political context and relations between Argentina and Venezuela are marked by growing tensions, particularly in terms of human rights.
• Political detentions are a practice often denounced by international organizations in Venezuela.
• Diplomatic discussions between South American countries are essential to improve the human rights situation in the region.