The US government have stated that Tomeu Vadell, an American citizen, has been wrongfully detained in Venezuela since November 2017 and have called on the Venezuelan authorities to release him unconditionally. Tomeu Vadell is one of the Citgo 6 and his family believe he is being used as a bargaining chip by the Venezuelan government to extract concessions from the United States.

Tomeu is a husband, a father and now a grandfather from Lake Charles, Louisiana. We speak to his daughter, Veronica Vadell Weggeman to find out what we can do to help bring her father home.  

We discuss his arrest by Venezuela’s military counter-intelligence unit, the deplorable conditions of his detention, his sham trial and sentence, surveillance of American citizens on US soil by Venezuelan intelligence agencies, political tensions between the US and Venezuela, other members of the Citgo 6, going public with the Free Tomeu Vadell campaign as well as what the public, Congress, State Department, President Biden and journalists can do to help free Tomeu Vadell.

If you prefer, you can watch the video version of this interview on YouTube. 

For more information on Tomeu Vadell, please check out the following:

• Free Tomeu Vadell website
• Veronica Vadell Weggeman's Twitter account
• Social media hashtag: FreeTomeuVadell

Get the latest updates on hostage cases we at Pod Hostage Diplomacy are working on including new episodes by subscribing to our fortnightly newsletter, the Hostage Briefing. Subscribe here.

You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.