28th November 2023
Moncloa Venezuela
Barcelona News Catalonia News Madrid News Main News

Spain demands ‘immediate’ release of journalists held in Venezuela

Spain has demanded the immediate release of journalists working for the Spanish news agency EFE who were arrested in Venezuela as part of a crackdown by Caracas on foreign media.

The Spanish government ‘strongly condemns’ the detention in Caracas of four members of a team from Spanish news agency EFE by Venezuela’s state intelligence agency Sebin, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

‘The government demands that the competent authorities release them immediately. The government again asks the Venezuelan authorities to respect the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms, of which freedom of the press is a central element,’ it added.

Moncloa Venezuela
Tweet from Moncloa demanding release of journalists in Venezuela (Twitter / @desdlamoncloa)

The three EFE journalists – a Spanish reporter, a Colombian videographer and a Colombian photographer — were arrested along with their Venezuelan driver on Wednesday, according to the Spanish news agency.

Two French journalists from the TV channel TMC were detained on Tuesday  as they filmed the presidential palace in Caracas and have not been heard from since, according to Venezuela’s main journalists’ union, the SNTP.

Two Chilean journalists who were also arrested on Tuesday near the presidential palace were kicked out of Venezuela on Wednesday, the union added.

ALSO READ: Venezuela’s Maduro rejects calls for elections

The arrests come shortly after Venezuela’s opposition, which is challenging President Nicolas Maduro‘s legitimacy as the country’s leader, appealed for fresh street protests to demand a transition government and new elections.

‘They can not prevent the world from knowing what is happening in Venezuela,’ opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself interim president last week, wrote on Twitter.

Recent Posts

Spain ready to sign deal with UK on post-Brexit status of Gibraltar

News Desk

Spain’s €1.4 billion plan to help protect Doñana National Park from drying up

News Desk

‘A question of being humane’ – Sánchez stands by Gaza comments that angered Israel

News Desk

Sánchez calls for international peace conference and to establish ‘viable Palestinian state’

News Desk

Prosecutors seek 9-year prison sentence for former Barça player Dani Alves

News Desk

20,000 Amazon workers in Spain set to strike on ‘Cyber Monday’

News Desk

Leave a Comment