Overview

• Camilo Castro, a 40-year-old French yoga teacher living in Colombia, vanished on June 26 after crossing at the Paraguachón border post to address a visa issue.
• His family says their inquiries indicate he is being held by Venezuelan authorities without stated charges and without effective consular access, and that he is not officially listed in prison registries.
• France’s foreign ministry told AFP it is following the situation closely while declining to comment on individual cases.
• Accounts from detainees freed in a July 19 U.S.–Venezuela prisoner swap suggest they encountered Castro in custody, and Libération reports he may be held at El Rodeo prison and could be the fourth French national detained recently.
• Amnesty International has reported an increase in forced disappearances since Nicolás Maduro’s contested re-election, alleging foreigners are used as bargaining chips, a context the family cites in calling for Castro’s immediate release.