Nahuel Gallo, the Argentine Border Guard who had been imprisoned in Venezuela since December 2024, has been released and has left the country, the government confirmed Sunday.
Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno, in a post on the X social network, confirmed that the Gendarme – who had been held in Rodeo I, a feared political prison on the outskirts of Caracas for more than 14 months – had been freed by authorities in Venezuela.
“The Argentine Republic confirms that Argentine citizen Nahuel Agustín Gallo, First Corporal of the Gendarmería Nacional, who had been in a situation of enforced disappearance since December 8, 2024, has been released,” Quirno announced at around 7pm Sunday local time.
“He is already flying to Argentina,” his wife, María Alexandra Gómez confirmed in a post on the same social network, saying she had spoken to him by telephone after his release.
“Víctor will be able to hug his dad in a few hours,” she added, referring to their son.
At around the same time, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) published a photograph of Gallo in front of an aircraft alongside one of the body’s officials, together with a brief statement celebrating “cooperation on a humanitarian action of this magnitude,”
Suggesting AFA’s authorities had taken part in organising the officer’s transfer back to Argentina, the association stressed that “sport can also be an effective bridge for understanding and cooperation for humanitarian action of this magnitude.”
It thanked the Venezuelan Football Federation (FVDF) for “facilitating the contact that made this rapprochement possible.”
Gallo departed from Maiquetía Simón Bolívar International Airport in Caracas at 5.51am and was expected to arrive in Buenos Aires around midnight, said local media.
He is being transported in a Lear Jet 60 aircraft, registration LV-KMA, which AFA chief Claudio ‘Chiqui’ Tapia often uses.
This aircraft was also previously used by Fred Machado, an Argentine businessman who was arrested and prosecuted in the United States for drug-trafficking, money-laundering and fraud.
Last week, Gallo began a hunger strike, along with several other detainees at Rodeo I, to demand their release.
Since assuming control after the capture of president Nicolas Maduro in a United States military operation, Venezuela’s interim leader Delcy Rodríguez has begun releasing political prisoners.
Authorities have also introduced a general amnesty, with Rodriguez calling for a process of “national reconciliation.”
In its statement, AFA thanked the interim leader for her “sensitivity and willingness to address this situation.”
Since the releases began on January 8, more than 540 people have been freed, but around 560 – including dozens of foreigners – remain imprisoned for political reasons, according to figures from the NGO Foro Penal, which provides legal support.
Gallo was detained in December 2024 upon entering the country to visit his wife.
Venezuela’s Public Prosecutor’s Office accused him of entering the country “irregularly” and of being linked to groups allegedly planning “destabilising and terrorist actions.”
In his post on X, Quirno wrote that his country “continues to demand from the Venezuelan regime the immediate release of Argentine citizen Germán Giuliani, as well as all those deprived of their liberty for political reasons.”
– TIMES/AFP/NA
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