Argentine minister warns youth football team ‘could get kidnapped’ in Venezuela

Argentina’s Security Minister Patricia Bullrich has warned that the nation’s under-20 football team may not travel to the upcoming South American youth football championship in Venezuela due to security fears. 

Speaking just two weeks before the tournament is due to kick off, Bullrich said players from the national youth football team, coached by Diego Placente, could be at risk of being kidnapped if they set foot in Venezuela.

The remarks come amid a diplomatic breakdown between President Javier Milei’s government in Buenos Aires and Nicolás Maduro’s administration in Caracas following the arrest and imprisonment of Argentine gendarme (Border Guard) Nahuel Gallo last month.

"Argentina will not send players who could be kidnapped. CONMEBOL will have to reconsider or they will need to change the venue," stated Bullrich in comments to a Venezuelan media outlet.

The tournament is due to run from January 23 to February 16.

Bullrich said Argentina could not “expose our young people to a place where they could be taken hostage."  

The minister emphasised her concerns by drawing a comparison between the detention of Gallo, which Argentina has denounced before the International Criminal Court (ICC) and Inter-American Commision on Human Rights (IACHR), and the footballers.

"What’s the difference between a gendarme and a footballer? They could accuse him of anything, suggesting we had sent a policeman disguised as a footballer. It’s an unacceptable risk,” she said.

The Argentine Football Association (AFA) has not yet made any official statement about the tournament, though preparations for the tournament continue. 
  
Diplomatic tension between Argentina and Venezuela has escalated following the detention of Gallo, who remains incarcerated under still-unspecified charges and was last week accused publicly by Maduro of seeking to assassinate a top government minister.

This situation, combined with increased security controls in Caracas and the absence of Argentine diplomatic representation in the country, is further complicating bilateral relations.

It is expected that CONMEBOL will make a decision on the tournament’s hosting in the coming days.

– TIMES/AFP