ROME, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Italy has summoned Venezuela's top diplomat in Rome in order to express their concerns about the lack of information regarding the situation of an Italian citizen who was detained in the South American country two months ago, the foreign ministry stated.
Alberto Trentini, a 45-year-old NGO worker, was arrested in Venezuela in November without any formal charges being filed against him, as reported by his family, who is urging the Italian government to increase efforts for his release.
"This morning I summoned Venezuela's charge d'affaires to strongly protest against the lack of information on the detention of Italian citizen Alberto Trentini and to dispute the expulsion of three of our diplomats," Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani wrote.
According to the daily la Repubblica, Trentini was apprehended on Nov. 15 at a checkpoint, transferred to a prison in Caracas, and has been unable to communicate with his family. His mother informed the newspaper that he has health issues and is without his medication.
In light of the strained relations between Italy and Venezuela, following Rome's non-recognition of Nicolas Maduro's victory in the July 2024 presidential elections, the recent detention of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, shortly before Maduro's third-term inauguration, has raised additional tensions.
Previously this month, Italy secured the release of another individual from imprisonment in Iran.
"We are hopeful that Prime Minister Meloni and her ministers will exert the same level of commitment and dedication they have demonstrated previously to safeguard another Italian national, in order to expedite Alberto's safe return to Italy soon," Trentini's mother expressed to la Repubblica.