"Luckey was stopped at a military checkpoint and collared by counter-intelligence agents in ski masks who seemed to suspect he was a spy. Rather than starting the breathtaking multi-day trek up the 2,810-metre tepui, Luckey was detained and put on the first of a series of flights that would eventually land him in the headquarters of Venezuela's feared General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM), more than 1,000km away in Caracas."
"Luckey recalled fearing for his life as he was led into the penitentiary in chains and forced to his knees. Oh yeah, they're gonna execute me here, he remembers thinking before having his head forcibly shaved."
"After a month sleeping on a flea-infested mattress in El Rodeo, Luckey was released and flown out of Venezuela on 13 January, 10 days after the US scrambled Venezuela's political landscape by abducting its president, Nicolas Maduro, during a night-time raid."
James Luckey, a 28-year-old New Yorker, was detained by Venezuelan military counter-intelligence agents shortly after crossing into Venezuela. He intended to hike Mount Roraima but was instead taken to Caracas, where he faced solitary confinement, beatings, and deprivation of food. After a month in the overcrowded El Rodeo prison, he was released and flown out of Venezuela. His detention coincided with political turmoil following the US's actions against President Nicolas Maduro, contributing to the rise of political prisoners in the country.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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