They appear to be in a “maximum security” prison. Two of them were in Colombia.
Three Americans arrested in Venezuela, allegedly for entering the country illegally, are being held in a maximum-security prison and face lengthy sentences, the Associated Press has learned.
None of the arrests had been released so far. But two of the detainees, Eyvin Hernández and Jerrell Kenemore, were arrested a few days after the government of Nicolás Maduro released two other Americans in March.
Within days, however, Venezuelan security forces detained Hernández, 44, and Kenemore, 52, in separate incidents in the western state of Táchira, according to a person familiar with the investigation, who spoke. on condition that she not be identified as she is not authorized to comment on the cases.
Hernández is from Los Angeles and Kenemore from Dallas, although he had lived in Colombia since 2019.
A third American was arrested in January, also for illegally entering Venezuela. The AP is withholding his name at the family’s request.
There are at least eight other Americans detained in Venezuela, including five executives of the Houston oil company Citgo and three war veterans, who are being used as bargaining chips, according to US authorities. Some have been in prison for almost five years.
The latest arrests come at a time when the Joe Biden administration is trying to dismantle his predecessor Donald Trump’s policy of punishing Maduro for violating Venezuelan democracy.
Instead, Biden is seeking to bring Maduro back to the negotiating table with his opponents and clear the way for clean and fair elections.
Within the framework of this rapprochement, the United States floated the possibility of reducing sanctions on Venezuela, a member of Opec, in a measure that, over time, could help contain the rise in oil prices that has occurred since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The release of the two Americans on March 8 was celebrated in Washington and gave impetus to rapprochement between the United States and Caracas.
It is not clear what impact the new arrests of Americans will have in Venezuela, a close ally of Russia.
The State Department confirmed the recent arrests but declined to provide further information, citing privacy considerations.
Regardless of the political fallout, the arrests would reflect what U.S. authorities see as an alarming trend: the arrest of Americans along the Venezuela-Colombia border, a region with little state presence dominated by criminal gangs and leftist rebels. .
Americans trying to enter Venezuela without a visa are particularly vulnerable.
Despite his harsh rhetoric from Maduro against the US “empire”, however, there is no indication that he has a policy of detaining Americans.
In a report of an arrest to which the AP had access, military counterintelligence agents mentioned the “constant threats, (the) economic blockade and (the) breaking of diplomatic relations that the United States currently maintains with the Venezuelan state” when explaining the detention. .
Senior Venezuelan officials justified the arrests. At a June 13 press conference to announce the arrest of another unidentified American, socialist leader Diosdado Cabello said “they have their plans against our country.”
Who are they?
Hernández, who was arrested on March 31, was due to appear in court on Monday, but the hearing was postponed.
Friends and relatives describe him as a fun guy, someone from a humble background who worked hard to get a good education and then turned down lucrative job opportunities to go into public service, representing poor people as a public defender.
He came to Los Angeles as a child with his parents, who were escaping the civil war in El Salvador, where he was born.
He studied at a community college (cheaper alternative, with two-year programs) and then at the University of California, Los Angeles, graduating in mathematics and physics, before pursuing a law degree. In 2006 he was hired as a public defender for Los Angeles County.
Like Maduro, he loves salsa and has been a union leader, representing hundreds of his colleagues, reflecting a charitable spirit, according to family and friends.
He travels a lot and has visited dozens of countries. He has particular affection for South America. His family said that she was taking a break when he traveled to Colombia, where she had already been several times.
At the end of March, when he was supposed to be on his way back, he accompanied a Venezuelan friend to the border. It is not known how he ended up on the Venezuelan side, but he said it was never his intention to go there and that he would never have knowingly entered illegally.
Hernandez’s friend was also detained and is at risk of being charged with migrant smuggling, according to the person familiar with the investigation.
“The whole family misses my brother very much,” said Henry Martinez, who also lives in Los Angeles, in a statement.
“He worked his entire career to serve the marginalized and is truly the best of us. We hope, we pray that Eyvin can come back soon after this mistaken detention,” he added.
Two weeks before Hernández was arrested, Kenemore was arrested under similarly murky circumstances.
According to his family, Kenemore had been living in Colombia for a year with a Venezuelan woman he had met through social media when they were both coming out of divorce. They lived in a small apartment in Bucaramanga, where Kenemore worked virtually for a client from the United States, but he had decided to move with his girlfriend to Venezuela, where she had a house.
Kenemore’s family said he was detained by immigration agents upon entering Venezuela, according to the GoFundMe page they had created to fund his defense.
They published on that platform what they say is the last photo of him before his arrest, near the border crossing of the Simón Bolívar bridge.
Prosecutors say Kenemore, his girlfriend and three other people entered the country on a dirt trail known as “Las Pampas,” one of hundreds of points Venezuelans use daily to buy food, go to medical appointments or visit family members. Colombian side.
They indicated that Kenemore was carrying three laptops and that he was accompanied by a captain from the Venezuelan Navy, something that aroused suspicion.
Like Hernández, Kenemore was charged with criminal association and conspiracy, crimes punishable by up to 16 years in prison. His girlfriend is also in custody.
“Jarrel is a good American, a Christian,” his sister Jeanna Kenemore Tillery said in a telephone interview from Dallas. “All he wanted was to be with the woman he loves. His sisters, his son and grandson miss them very much and we look forward to his return.”
In April, the State Department published an alert about the dangers facing Americans on the Colombia-Venezuela border. He recommended avoiding going to Venezuela and never entering without a visa. Getting a visa, however, is almost impossible since the United States broke diplomatic relations with Venezuela in 2019.
Venezuelan law stipulates that foreigners caught without a visa must be deported immediately.
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