Argentina hits out at Venezuela over security officer’s detention

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BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina’s government said on Friday it strongly rejected what it called the arbitrary and unjustified detention of a non-commissioned officer of the country’s Gendarmeria, a national security force, in Venezuela.

The government said that the officer, Nahuel Agustin Gallo, had entered Venezuela from Colombia on Dec. 8 to visit family, including his partner and daughter, but that he was “immediately arrested, without a legitimate motive and in open violation of his fundamental rights.”

In a statement, the government said it demanded Gallo’s immediate liberation and that it would not tolerate such actions against its citizens.

“We demand the IMMEDIATE release of this Argentine citizen. (President Nicolas) Maduro, every minute you hold him will be one more step toward your own end,” Defense Minister Patricia Bullrich said on X.

Venezuela’s information ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

Argentina and Venezuela have tense relations, with far-right libertarian President Javier Milei often clashing with Venezula’s socialist President Nicolas Maduro, who has positioned himself at the opposite end of the political spectrum.

Argentina is hosting six Venezuelan opposition aides in its embassy in Caracas, where the aides have complained of siege-like conditions with access to water and electricity being cut off.

(Reporting by Adam Jourdan and Maximilian Heath; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Kylie Madry)