President Javier Milei on Tuesday demanded the immediate release of an Argentine Gendarmerie (Border Guard) officer detained in Venezuela by the authorities, branding the country's leader Nicolás Maduro a “criminal dictator.”
Condemning the incident as an “illegal kidnapping,” Milei used a graduation ceremony at a military college in Buenos Aires to call for the return of Agustín Nahuel Gallo, a 33-year-old lance corporal of Argentina’s National Gendarmerie.
“He was detained by the security forces led by the criminal dictator Nicolás Maduro for the sole crime of visiting his partner and son,” Argentina's leader declared in his speech. “We demand his immediate release and we will exhaust all diplomatic channels to return him safe and sound.”
The Border Guard officer, a native of Catamarca Province, was arrested more than a week ago at the border crossing between Cúcuta in Colombia and Táchira in Venezuela.
Venezuelan counter-intelligence agents have accused him of spying on behalf of the Argentine government.
According to the detainee’s family, Gallo left Mendoza with plans to spend the holidays with his wife, María Gómez, and their two-year-old son, who have been living in Venezuela for the past nine months. After visiting his family, Gallo was due to return to Argentina to resume his duties, they say.
Details of the arrest emerged slowly. Gallo’s relatives revealed that he last communicated with his wife on Sunday, December 8, when he informed her he was being taken away. It was not until the following Friday that the incident was made public.
“The last I heard from Nahuel was at 10.57am on Sunday morning,” Gallo’s wife said, visibly distressed. She described the situation as a “nightmare” and explained that Venezuelan authorities had seized his mobile phone at the migration checkpoint.
“They detain him, they take away his mobile phone, they search him arbitrarily… And I have to say it: I am Venezuelan, and I am suffering this nightmare that we are living,” she said.
Gómez, who said she has been living in Puerto La Cruz for several months while helping out her mother, explained that messages found on Gallo’s phone appear to have triggered his arrest.
According to her account, Venezuelan authorities discovered personal messages critical of the Maduro government, including her remarks during elections. “I wrote to Nahuel to tell him, at the time of the last elections: ‘This country is going to hell,’ and that we have a horrible government, a dictatorship. Those were the messages that were found on his phone, which hurt him,” she said.
The incident has sparked sharp condemnation from officials in Argentina. Security Minister Patricia Bullrich described the detention as “almost an act of war.”
Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein denounced the arrest as having crossed “all limits” and revealed further complications surrounding Argentina’s Embassy in Caracas.
Werthein accused the Venezuelan authorities of surrounding the Embassy with snipers and blocking access to basic supplies. Buenos Aires also confirmed last week that a local Embassy employee, reportedly a driver, had been “arbitrarily” detained.
Meanwhile, Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello acknowledged Gallo’s arrest on Monday but offered no further explanation. “What was he coming to Venezuela to do?” Cabello said. “He was coming to carry out a mission.”
The escalating diplomatic crisis has intensified tensions between the two nations. Argentina’s Foreign Ministry issued an advisory on Saturday, warning citizens to avoid or postpone travel to Venezuela.
The deteriorating relations stem from Venezuela’s July 28 elections, which saw Nicolás Maduro re-elected amid widespread allegations of fraud.
Argentina, under Milei’s leadership, strongly condemned the electoral process, leading Venezuela to sever diplomatic relations with Buenos Aires on August 1.
Since then, Brazil has been handling consular affairs on Argentina’s behalf.
For now, President Milei’s government remains firm in its demands for Gallo’s release.
“We will not rest until he is brought back to Argentina safe and sound,” Milei declared, as the incident continues to strain relations between Buenos Aires and Caracas.
– TIMES/AFP/NA
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