A French national is being detained without cause in Venezuela, claims his family, who say he is one of several foreigners being held in the country in what Amnesty International has denounced as a widespread policy of enforced disappearances.
Camilo Castro, a Franco-Chilean yoga teacher who is about to turn 41, has been detained for nearly two months by the Venezuelan authorities “without cause and without his consular rights being respected,” his family said on Wednesday.
Castro, who lives in Colombia and was building a house there, was apprehended on 26 June at the Paraguachon border crossing between Colombia and Venezuela, where he had gone to renew his Colombian residence permit, his family said in a statement to the AFP news agency.
When asked about the case, the French foreign ministry said it does not comment on individual cases.
Castro was detained by Venezuelan authorities “like dozens of other foreigners currently detained in the country,” the family said.
In a report published in mid-July, rights group Amnesty International denounced Venezuela’s policy of “enforced disappearances” against opponents and foreign nationals that has been happening since the contested re-election of President Nicolas Maduro in March 2024.
Venezuelan authorities use hostages “as a bargaining chip for use in negotiations with other countries”, Amnesty wrote.
Castro's family says they confirmed that he is being detained after Venezuela released prisoners in an exchange with the United States on 19 July.
Among those released was Franco-American Lucas Hunter, who had been detained in January while he was travelling along Venezuela’s border with Colombia
(with AFP)
