U.S. journalist detained in Venezuela has been freed hours later
An American citizen who working as a journalist in Venezuela has been freed after being detained by security forces early Wednesday. Weddle was at the main Caracas-area airport waiting for a U.S.-bound flight, according to the TV station he works for in Miami.
A doorman at Cody Weddle's residence said a squad of five men wearing black uniforms demanded entry and left with the journalist in custody.
A spokesman for the State Department said the U.S. was aware of the missing journalist and issued a warning to President Nicolás Maduro's government.
"We have no higher priority than the protection of U.S. citizens abroad," the State Department said in a statement. "Being a journalist is not a crime; the world is watching."
Kimberly Breier, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, earlier called for Weddle's "immediate release."
.@StateDept is aware of and deeply concerned with reports that another U.S. journalist has been detained in #Venezuela by #Maduro, who prefers to stifle the truth rather than face it. Being a journalist is not a crime. We demand the journalist’s immediate release, unharmed.
— Kimberly Breier (@WHAAsstSecty) March 6, 2019
Tensions have been escalating by the day in Venezuela, where U.S.-backed opposition leader Juan Guaidó is seeking to oust Maduro.
Weddle has reported from Venezuela for more than four years, most recently working as a freelance journalist for WPLG-TV, the ABC affiliate in Miami, Florida. His hometown is Meadowview, Virginia.
The station's president said in a statement it can't reach Weddle and is concerned. WPLG-TV said Weddle's assistant was also detained.
Weddle's mother spoke to CNN and said she is "very, very, very worried" for her 29-year-old son. She said Weddle had been living in Venezuela since June 2014.
Cody Weddle's mother still hasn't heard from her son after the Local 10 reporter was detained in Venezuela this morning. https://t.co/gCU8y3eYnR
— WPLG Local 10 News (@WPLGLocal10) March 6, 2019
One of WPLG-TV's reporters said the mother has spoken to the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela.
UPDATE: I just spoke with Cody Weddle's mother by phone. She says she has spoken to the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela and they have reached out to Venezuela's Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding Cody. She says they also told her it's not unusual for it to be a "slow process".
— Amy Viteri (@AmyViteriWPLG) March 6, 2019
Republican Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott of Florida reacted to the news Wednesday, with Scott calling Weddle's detention "completely unacceptable."
Completely unacceptable for @NicolasMaduro and his thugs to detain @WPLGLocal10’s Cody Weddle for reporting on the successful return of the legitimate Venezuelan President @jguaido.
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) March 6, 2019
He must be released immediately and the U.S. will not stand for this kind of intimidation! https://t.co/IiR0qpXO51
Wednesday's news about Weddle comes on the heels of another incident in Venezuela concerning CNN journalists.
Maria Martinez-Guzman, one of Univision's executive producers, was among those detained last week along with anchor Jorge Ramos and five others by the Venezuelan government in Caracas. She told CBSN she felt outraged and robbed of her work. She described how they were put in a "dark room" and about $180,000 worth of equipment was "stolen."
Ramos and his crew, including Martinez-Guzman and several camerapeople, were interviewing Maduro at the Miraflores presidential palace about the instability in the country, but things went south 17 minutes into their conversation after he showed Maduro footage of Venezuelan youths eating from a garbage truck.