Thamara Caleño and Joshua Holt have been detained arbitrarily since June 2016. The Miami Herald has reported witness' accounts that claim that the Venezuelan military intelligence planted weapons in Thamara's apartment in Caracas. The newlyweds were residing there pending the travel visas for the new members of the Holt family that would enable them to emigrate to the U.S.
2016 article reports #JoshuaHolt arbitrary detention and witness' account of Venezuelan military intelligence planting weapons in his wife's apt in Caracas. #FreeJoshuaHolt #LibertadPresosPoliticosVenezuela https://t.co/a1FylObs2f— Juan Mayoral (@Quintajayuya) December 13, 2017
“The only reason they have him is because he’s a gringo,” said the woman, who asked the Miami Herald not to use her name for fear of retaliation. “I don’t care what color his eyes are, what color his hair is, where his passport says he’s from — he’s innocent and his human rights are being violated.”Joshua's parents in Utah have denounced the poor state of health of their son as a consequence of being denied medical attention by his captors. This week the family made public a voice recording of Joshua complaining of his worsened health.
—The Miami Herald
Joshua is being quoted as saying:
"I'm very dizzy and I can't think and my stomach hurts"
"It hurts bad, and I don't know what to do. I've never felt like this before." —AP NewsBoth Joshua and Thamara are being detained against their will by the nefarious Venezuelan Secret Police in one of the the regime's dungeons reserved for political prisoners: "El Helicoide" in Caracas.
AP News reports that after 18 months of arbitrary detention, a preliminary hearing yesterday ruled that Joshua and Thamara must stand trial on weapons charges. The article also denounced that:#JoshuaHolt, US citizen imprisoned under suspicious circumstances in #Venezuela last year, has "never felt worse" as health worsens in prison https://t.co/dcc0Hw34eW— In Venezuela (@invenezuelablog) December 12, 2017
"Lee McClenny, the head of the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela, was forced Tuesday to wait outside the courtroom for hours after the judge refused to grant him access to the proceedings in apparent violation of the Vienna convention on consular rights." —AP NewsThe article also infers political meddling of the regime in associating the arbitrary detention of this U.S. citizen in Venezuela as retaliation to the 2015 arrest of two nephews of Venezuela's presidential couple, first lady Cilia Flores and president Nicolás Maduro. The Flores nephews are on trial in New York after having been caught red handed by the DEA in their attempt to smuggle 17 hundred pounds of cocaine into the U.S.
"In an odd twist in the case, his legal defense is being paid for by a wealthy Venezuelan shipping magnate with close ties to Maduro's government. The same businessman, Wilmer Ruperti, is funding the defense of first lady Cilia Flores' two nephews in a separate, politically charged narcotics trial in the United States.
The nephews, Efrain Campos and Francisco Flores, were arrested by police in Haiti in 2015 and convicted a year ago of conspiring to smuggle more than 1,700 pounds (800 kilograms) of cocaine into the U.S. They are scheduled to be sentenced Thursday." —AP News
Venezuelan free thinkers and critics of the regime denounce that Joshua is being held hostage as a possible bargaining chip in exchange for the narco trafficking nephews of the regime's leader, Nicolás Maduro. Joshua's Venezuelan wife Thamara being caught in the cross fire of the wretched scheme.
Caso Joshua Holt, norteamericano preso en el Helicoide desde hace 18 meses no tiene pies nj cabeza. Es rehén que se buscaron para ver si lo canjean por el narco hijo adoptivo y el narco sobrino de @ConCiliaFlores. Una trama 100% 'Made in Havana, Cuba'! https://t.co/tcQ3a7OrWh— Pedro Mario Burelli (@pburelli) December 13, 2017
