Alberto Trentini, a young NGO worker from Venice who has been detained in Venezuela since November, is in good health. This according to “conclusive evidence” cited by qualified sources, ANSA reported on Thursday.
Trentini travelled to Venezuela on 17 October for a mission with the NGO Humanity and Inclusion. On 15 November, he was arrested at a checkpoint while travelling from Caracas to Guasdalito.
His family has been actively campaigning for his release. Last month, they issued a statement alongside lawyer Alessandra Ballerini, urging the Italian government to “open a constructive dialogue with Venezuelan authorities to bring Alberto back home and guarantee his safety.” In January, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced that he had summoned Venezuela’s chargé d’affaires to protest the lack of information regarding Trentini’s detention.
“The few and informal reports we have received suggest that, a few days after his arrest, Alberto was transferred to Caracas,” the family said. He remains detained there, allegedly without charge. They also expressed concern over his health condition.
Earlier this week, the parents of Giulio Regeni – Claudio Regeni and Claudia Deffendi – added their voices to the appeal. Regeni, a 28-year-old Cambridge University researcher from Friuli, was abducted and murdered in Egypt in 2016. His parents urged the government to take action, stating that “too much time has gone by” since Trentini’s arrest.
