As U.S. pressure mounts, Venezuela's foreign 'hostages' face growing uncertainty

"Now, he's in a maximum security prison in Venezuela, where inmates are rarely allowed to communicate with the outside world. "We are constantly worried about how he's doing," says his sister Diana Tique, who lives in the three-bedroom apartment that has been the family's home for years. She says that during the first months of her brother's detention, she had trouble sleeping, adding that the "emotional toll" of having him detained without trial in a foreign prison has been immense."

"With the U.S. now amassing naval forces and even blowing up several boats in the southern Caribbean in an anti-narcotics mission that Maduro has described as the start of a potential attack on his government, relatives of the prisoners say they face a new level of uncertainty. "I'm scared about the military pressure," says Manuel Tique's father, Victor Manuel. "It might lead to freedom, but it could also mean Maduro holds these prisoners for longer.""

"Venezuela's government has accused many of the foreigners in its prisons of plotting to overthrow President Maduro. But human rights groups say these prisoners are mostly tourists, business people and humanitarian workers who had nothing to do with Venezuelan politics. Juan Pappier, the deputy Americas director at Human Rights Watch, says that currently there are 89 foreign nationals imprisoned in Venezuelan jails, from countries that include Colombia, Spain, Argentina, France and the Czech Republic."

Manuel Alejandro Tique, a 32-year-old humanitarian worker, is held in a Venezuelan maximum security prison with limited outside communication, causing severe emotional strain on his family. Relatives report sleeplessness and constant worry as detainees are held without trial in a foreign country. Venezuelan authorities accuse many foreign prisoners of plotting to overthrow President Maduro, while human rights groups contend most are tourists, businesspeople or aid workers with no political motive. U.S. naval operations and anti-narcotics actions in the southern Caribbean heighten uncertainty about the prisoners' futures. Human Rights Watch reports 89 foreign nationals currently imprisoned in Venezuela.

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