The Venezuelan government freed the Cuban-American Jorge Alberto Fernandez, 52 years old, who was imprisoned and accused of terrorism in 2021 for entering that country with a domestic drone.
He Department of State celebrated the release of the Cuban-American and the American Gustavo Cárdenas, one of the prisoners of the group known as "6 de Citgo".
The press release detailed that both had "been unjustly detained in Venezuela" and that they had already returned to the United States accompanied by Roger Carstens, the special presidential envoy for Hostage Affairs.
"We express our deepest gratitude to our many partners around the world who joined us in calling for their release. While we welcome this important positive step, we continue to press for the release of all U.S. citizens wrongfully detained in Venezuela. and throughout the world," the statement stressed.
Lawyer María Alejandra Poleo confirmed that His client was released on Tuesday along with Cárdenas.
He remembered that Fernández was arrested in February of last year in the western city of San Cristóbal when trying to enter Venezuela from Colombia; and after suffering dozens of abuses was accused of terrorism for carrying a small domestic drone with which – the man claimed – he wanted to photograph the "El Salto del Ángel" waterfall and other sites of tourist interest, the CNN.
The liberation of the Cuban-American and Cardenas –US citizen detained in Caracas since 2017 and one of six former oil executives at the US refinery Citgo ("6 from Citgo") arrested that year on charges of embezzlement - occurs after a high-level visit by US officials to the Venezuelan capital last Saturday.
That meeting was the first since diplomatic relations between the two countries were broken in 2019, and it transcended the context of the US sanctions against Russia in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine.
Upon learning of the release of the two inmates, the president Joe Biden celebrated the Caracas decision in a statement Tuesday night.
In that text he stated that "as we celebrate the return of Cárdenas and Fernández, we also remember the names and stories of all Americans who are unjustly held against their will: in Venezuela, Russia, Afghanistan, Syria, China, Iran, and elsewhere." parts of the world. My Administration will continue to fight to bring them all home.
Since the imprisonment of the "Citgo 6" in 2017 on embezzlement charges that they deny, their lawyers and relatives have accused President Nicolás Maduro of using the group as "pawns" to put pressure on the US government.
On January 27, the trial against Fernández began in Caracas, who in a letter sent to the portal Infobae He denounced his situation and asked the international community for help to put pressure on the Venezuelan regime and obtain his release.
In that letter he explained that he was nothing more than a traveler who was detained in the state of Táchira for carrying a small "toy" drone that he "used to take photos and videos during his vacations."
The authorities of the Nicolás Maduro regime, closely linked to that of Havana, would have thought that he was a spy or some detractor of socialism, as both governments proclaim.
The Cuban then denounced that "I have never been allowed to make a call to my parents and children, nor have I been allowed to communicate with my embassies, in total violation of my human rights. My presentation hearing was on September 29, 2021, seven months after I was arrested, violating the penal code."
In addition, He regretted that the United States government had not been interested in the case, despite being a US citizen and residing in that country since 1994.
The man, born in Havana, Cuba, and resident in Las Vegas, assured that he has nothing to do with politics. He had worked in one of the MGM company's hotels for 11 years and as a driver for Lyft, a company similar to Uber.
Fernández says that he travels frequently with his savings and is a lover of creative photography, which can be seen on his Instagram page (Soloxlavida), where he publishes images and videos in different destinations (Aruba, several cities in Peru, Colombia, etc. ) allegedly filmed with the drone for which he was accused of terrorism.
In his letter to Infobae He stated that "he had never been to Venezuela" and that he went out of curiosity, to see "Angel Falls", and a "place where every night there are rays from Catatumbo, I have seen many YouTube videos about Canaima, about Chichiriviche. "I really never thought I would have problems because I had never had them before anywhere else," he said.
Biden stated that now the man will be able to hug his family again.
What do you think?
COMMENTFiled in: