Venezuelan security forces have detained several Americans in the past several months since Donald Trump ordered the U.S. military to begin attacking suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean and blocking suspected sanctioned oil tankers departing the country.
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The New York Times cited a U.S. official who told the news outlet that the State Department was considering designating two Americans, including one traveller from Staten Island identified as James Luckey-Lange, as wrongfully detained.
The 28-year-old is the son of the musician Diane Luckey, who performed under the stage name Q Lazzarus and is known for her 1988 single “Goodbye Horses,” which featured in the 1991 psychological thriller film “The Silence of The Lambs.”
The identities of the other Americans held in Venezuelan captivity have not yet been made public.
Some of the detained Americans are known to be facing legitimate criminal charges, according to the Times’s source.
The U.S. escalation of political and military pressure on the government of Nicolas Maduro has continued for months as the Trump administration accuses the Maduro government of being controlled by a drug smuggling operation led by Maduro himself, “Cartel de los Soles”.
Maduro has previously used captured U.S. citizens as pressure in negotiations with Washington.
Conversely, Trump has made the release of Americans held overseas in any territory a priority in his two presidencies.
The president sent U.S. envoy Richard Grenell to Venezuela to negotiate a prisoner deal in the days after returning to office, according to The New York Times.
A prisoner swap in July led to 10 U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents being released.
Reports of the newly detained Americans came as the State Department announced sanctions on four entities it said were “illegally operating in Venezuela’s oil sector” on Wednesday.
“The Trump Administration is also blocking four associated oil tankers, part of a shadow fleet that funds Nicolás Maduro’s illegitimate, corrupt regime and allows Maduro and his cronies to evade sanctions,” the statement read.
“Today’s sanctions continue President Trump’s pressure campaign on Maduro and his cronies. The Trump Administration is committed to disrupting the network that props up Maduro and his illegitimate regime.”
The Independent has contacted the State Department for comment on the reported detainees in Venezuela.
Some of the tankers stopped or interdicted by U.S. forces are part of the so-called “shadow fleet” made up of dozens of ships that use shell companies and flags of convenience to evade U.S. sanctions and international laws.
[ Read more on Independent.co.uk]
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