Overview
- At a Milan press conference marking the anniversary, Alberto Trentini’s mother, Armanda Colusso, said the Italian government had no direct contacts with Caracas until August and argued it has done too little to free her son.
- Family lawyer Alessandra Ballerini cited self-styled intermediaries who likely overstated their influence, said these moves derailed openings, and asked to travel to Venezuela with envoy Luigi Maria Vignali after being denied a visa earlier.
- Recent accounts from Colombians released from El Rodeo I indicate Trentini is alive; over the year he managed only three brief calls home, and the Italian ambassador made a single prison visit in September.
- Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on November 14 that Italy is working by all means to obtain the release of Italian detainees in Caracas, describing them as political prisoners and calling for transparency in Trentini’s case.
- Venezuelan authorities have not produced a public indictment beyond generic references to “conspiracy,” and rights groups and former inmates describe El Rodeo I conditions as harsh, in a context observers call hostage diplomacy.