Overview
- President Emmanuel Macron announced the release on X, and Castro later arrived at Paris-Orly to reunite with his family.
- Castro, a 41-year-old French yoga teacher, vanished on June 26 at the Paraguachón border while renewing his Colombian residency and was held without formal charges.
- He was detained in the high-security El Rodeo prison, the same facility where Italian aid worker Alberto Trentini has been held for a year.
- France’s foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot welcomed what he called a gesture by Venezuelan authorities, saying Castro faced unfounded accusations and that Caracas set no conditions.
- Amnesty International has documented enforced disappearances in Venezuela after Nicolás Maduro’s re-election, and the case has renewed attention to other foreign detainees.