US journalist detained by Venezuelan officers, then freed

A U.S. journalist was seized by security forces at his apartment Wednesday amid Venezuela's escalating political turmoil, then was freed several hours later and deported, executives at his Miami-based TV station and union representatives said.

This 2018 photo released by Florida based WPLG digital television station shows U.S. journalist Cody Weddle in Caracas, Venezuela. Weddle was seized by security forces at his apartment early Wednesday, March 6, 2019, according to lawyers and press freedom groups. After arriving to Venezuela as an English-language correspondent for state-run network Telesur, Weddle had been reporting from Venezuela for more than four years, most recently working as a freelance journalist for the ABC affiliate in Miami. He also contributed to the Miami Herald and The Telegraph in Britain. [Photo: AP]

Cody Weddle was taken to the airport outside Caracas for a flight back to the United States, said ABC affiliate Local 10 News, a station he sent dispatches as a freelance correspondent. Venezuela's National Union of Press Workers said on Twitter that he had been deported.

It wasn't clear why he was detained. Government officials did not comment on the case.

Early Wednesday, a squad of five men dressed in black uniforms and carrying a written order demanded entry into Weddle's Caracas apartment building, neighbors said. The officers emerged two hours later with the Virginia-born Weddle carrying a large suitcase and equipment bag.

"He didn't say anything," said the building's doorman, Juan Jose Araque. "He went quietly."

Since the start of the year, Venezuela has been shaken by political unrest sometimes erupting in violence after U.S.-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido announced he was invoking the constitution as head of congress to wrest power from President Nicolas Maduro.

The Trump administration recognized Guaido as Venezuela's "interim president" on Jan. 23, days after Maduro was inaugurated for a second term as Venezuelan president.

Maduro, in response, cut diplomatic and political ties with the United States.

Weddle's apparent arrest came the same day as Maduro ordered the expulsion of Germany's ambassador due to what Venezuela's foreign ministry described in a statement as ”his repeated acts of interference in the country's internal affairs".

Weddle had reported from Venezuela for more than four years, most recently working as a freelance journalist for the ABC affiliate in Miami, a stronghold of Venezuelan exiles, although he also contributed to the Miami Herald and The Telegraph in Britain. He arrived in the country as an English-language correspondent for state-run network Telesur.

Also freed was Weddle's Venezuelan assistant, Carlos Camacho, who had been swept from his home across town in a similar manner, local media reported.

Marco Ruiz, head of Venezuela's National Union of Press Workers, said on Twitter before the release that officials with the Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence confirmed to him that the journalists were taken into custody of the agency, which is responsible for dealing with national security threats.

Both men were interrogated, Ruiz said. He said officials provided no further details.

Foro Penal, a lawyer co-op that handles politically sensitive cases, said Weddle was held at a prison in Caracas alongside five other American citizens — all of them dual nationals — who worked at Houston-based Citgo, a subsidiary of Venezuela's state-run oil monopoly.

Weddle's mother, Sherry Weddle of Meadowview, Virginia, said she sent her son a text messages early Wednesday, a daily routine they have kept since turmoil began increasing in the South American country. This time there was no reply, she said.

"Usually I get back: 'I'm fine. Are you OK?'" she said. "I'm just very concerned."

She told the Miami ABC affiliate that she was relieved to learn her son had been let go.

The U.S. State Department had said in a statement that "the world is watching" Maduro's handling of the case.

E. R. Bert Medina, CEO of ABC's South Florida affiliate, said in a statement that being unable to reach Weddle was unsettling. "Cody has been dedicated and committed to telling the story in Venezuela to our viewers," Medina said.

(Story includes material sourced from AP and Xinhua.)