RIVERTON, Utah (AP) – The parents of a Utah man imprisoned in Venezuela one year ago as of Friday fear their son will die in a Caracas jail with no relief in sight and growing volatility in the South American country.
Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has been brought in by Joshua Holt’s family to pry open negotiations with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro over a humanitarian release, something Richardson said could possibly lead to dialogue about other strains between the embattled Maduro and President Donald Trump, who has taken a personal interest in Americans held overseas.
The U.S. government has raised Joshua Holt’s case to the highest levels of the Venezuela government and renewed a call Thursday for his release. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said that U.S. consular access to Holt is “slow and grudging” and that Venezuela’s refusal to hold a preliminary hearing on his case “casts serious doubts” on the reasons he was detained.
Holt, 25, traveled to Venezuela in June 2016 and married Thamara Candelo, a Venezuelan woman he met online while practicing his Spanish. He had planned to spend several months in Caracas with her and her two daughters to secure their visas so they could move with him to the U.S.
Instead, the couple was as arrested at her family’s Caracas apartment by Venezuelan police who alleged Holt was stockpiling weapons and suggested he was linked to unspecified attempts by the U.S. government to undermine Maduro’s government.