A Telemundo journalist disappears for 8 hours in Venezuela and his belongings are stolen

Daniel Garrido, a Telemundo correspondent, was missing in Caracas, Venezuela, for almost 8 hours this Tuesday. The report of the event was made by the National Union of Press Workers (SNTP) of the Latin American country, around 10:30 a.m.

According to aPress release broadcast by the Latin American news network, Garrido was kidnapped at 6:00 a.m. in the vicinity of the Cayena Hotel in La Castellana, where the journalist fromJorge Ramos and the rest of his team, who suffered a similar situation.

At the hotel, Daniel Garrido was covering the recent arrest and deportation of members of the Univision News group. He even photographed the personnel of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN) in the area.

In the note published byTelemundo, it is reported that a group of "armed and unidentified individuals" forced Garrido into a vehicle and covered his head with a hood. The journalist was interrogated for almost six hours and his work equipment was seized, and then he was returned to the street "without any explanation" around 1:20 pm.

Once released, Garrido finally managed to communicate with the Executive Vice President of News ofTelemundo, Luis Fernandez.

“Daniel Garrido just wrote to us: He is free. They have taken away his phones. Another attack against freedom of the press. Another one. Thanks to the SNTP for the help,” Fernández wrote on Twitter.

Gustavo Piñera, another journalist from the network, reported on the social network that Garrido was “ruled and held incommunicado for 8 hours.” “So far in 2019, 30 arrests of journalists have been reported,” he added.

"This is not the first time that Daniel has been harassed during the exercise of his journalistic work. On previous occasions, he has been a victim of physical harassment and his equipment has been stolen," he declared. Telemundoin the press release.

"Noticias Telemundo repudiates this type of harassment that violates freedom of expression and human rights. Likewise, it demands that the Venezuelan government guarantee our right to inform, as well as the physical integrity of journalists operating in Venezuela, as stated. established by international conventions and the laws of the country," he added.

It is speculated that the momentary disappearance of the correspondent has some kind of relationship with the unjustified arrest of Jorge Ramos at the Miraflores Palace.

Ramos was scheduled to interview Maduro but he ordered the recording to stop, the equipment confiscated and the other members of the group detained.According to the story of the Univision presenter, the Chavista leader stood up after being shown images of people eating from the garbage. During the meeting he was asked if he considered himself a “president or dictator” and if he believed he was “responsible for deaths.”