An Argentine Gendarmerie (Border Guard) officer arrested in Venezuela almost three weeks ago will be charged with "terrorism," the country's prosecutor said on Friday, ramping up tensions between Caracas and Buenos Aires.
Argentina's President Javier Milei has called Venezuela's December 8 arrest and ongoing detention of Nahuel Agustín Gallo an "abduction."
Venezuelan chief prosecutor Tarek William Saab said in a statement that Gallo was being investigated for allegedly belonging to "a group of people who attempted to carry out a series of destabilising and terrorist actions from our territory and with the support of international far-right groups."
He accused Gallo of entering the country “irregularly” and “hiding his real criminal plan under the guise of a sentimental visit.”
Diosdado Cabello, the powerful interior minister, claimed that Gallo "wanted to infiltrate" the country.
Argentina’s Foreign Ministry said Gallo, a 33-year-old first corporal in the Gendarmerie, entered Venezuela from Colombia to see his girlfriend and their child and spend year-end festivities with them.
Gerardo Werthein, Argentina’s foreign minister, said that the allegations were “a big lie,” based on “a series of facts that are false.”
Milei has railed against the arrest, and called Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro a "criminal dictator."
Gallo is unable to get consular visits because Venezuela in July kicked out diplomatic staff from Argentina and six other Latin American countries after their governments questioned Maduro's claimed re-election victory in disputed elections.
A federal court in Mendoza Province urged Caracas Tuesday to provide information on Gallo's whereabouts, denouncing his “forced disappearance” and considering that the case fell under the principle of “universal jurisdiction.”
Security at Argentina's Embassy in Caracas has been ensured by Brazil. Venezuela in September revoked that arrangement, but Brasília said it was continuing.
In March, before Argentina's diplomats left, six Venezuelan opposition figures entered the embassy to escape "terrorism" accusations. Five of them remain inside.
– TIMES/AFP
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