
Oil tycoon Wilmer Ruperti showed up for a meeting with Venezuela’s intelligence agency last Thursday. A week later, he’s still in custody, one of his lawyers told Semafor.
“We’ve reached out to everybody trying to get proof of life or some support,” Winston & Strawn’s Cari Stinebower said, adding that officials still haven’t conveyed “how he’s being treated or why he’s being detained.”
Ruperti, who arrived at the meeting with a security detail, is a Venezuelan Italian shipping magnate who trades in petroleum coke. His detainment followed interim President Delcy Rodríguez’s decision to elevate the agency’s longtime chief to defense minister.
“The message is that Venezuela is open for business — but detaining businessmen for days on end without any due process or access to counsel is more old regime,” Stinebower said. “This is not law and order and not conducive of a welcoming business environment.”
The State Department and Energy Department did not respond to requests for comment.
latest_posts
- 1
Manual for Tracking down the Immaculate Magnificence of Focal Asia - 2
25 of the world’s best sandwiches - 3
Kids get diseases like lupus, too. As researchers hunt better treatments, this camp brings joy - 4
Gaza humanitarian efforts reach key milestone as UNICEF vaccinates some 13,000 children - 5
A definitive Burger Confrontation: Which One Rules?
Flu concerns grow in US as UK sees more cases among kids
Factbox-China's crewed lunar programme eyes astronaut landing by 2030
'Harmonious' meeting between Merz, Lula despite Belém controversy
Pfizer says patient dies after receiving hemophilia drug in trial
See the moon shine with Saturn in the southern sky after sunset Dec. 26
I tried a macho, creatine-loaded cereal “for men.” Did I mention I'm a woman?
Sahel coups push Africa to top of global democratic declines, report finds
Fundamental Home Machines for Improved Solace in Summer
Manual for Mountain Objections on the planet













