U.S. Navy Sailor Detained in Venezuela, State Department Confirms

State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller speaks during a press briefing at the Department of State in Washington on July 24, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

A Department of State spokesperson has confirmed that Venezuelan authorities have detained a U.S. Navy sailor who was visiting the country on unauthorized business.

“We are tracking closely the detention of a U.S. military member in Venezuela,“ State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a press conference. ”We are closely monitoring the situation and seeking additional information.”

Miller couldn’t name the service member or provide any other details because of privacy concerns, he said.

Venezuelan law enforcement took the service member into custody at the end of August, the Associated Press reported, citing defense officials.

The Pentagon officials reported to the Associated Press under the condition of anonymity, referring to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) for more information.

The Epoch Times contacted the DOD for comment.

One of the officials said that the sailor was neither in Venezuela on Navy business nor authorized to travel there.

The State Department has a longstanding travel advisory warning U.S. citizens not to travel to Venezuela. Its travel advisory, updated in May, warns that “there is a high risk of wrongful detention of U.S. nationals in Venezuela.”

Security forces in Venezuela “have detained U.S. citizens for up to five years,” the travel advisory states.

“The U.S. government is not generally notified of the detention of U.S. citizens in Venezuela or granted access to U.S. citizen prisoners there,” it reads.

The sailor is the third enlisted service member to be detained by a hostile country in a little more than a year.

A U.S. soldier was held briefly by North Korea after he ran across the border in July 2023. He was released after several weeks and returned to the United States to face trial for desertion and other charges.

In a similar case, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Gordon Black remains detained in Russia after he was arrested on theft charges in May.

Black was visiting his girlfriend in Vladivostok, Russia. She accused him of stealing money, which led to his arrest in a hotel.

The U.S. Army said Black hadn’t been cleared for travel to Russia, which is required by Pentagon policy.

He was in the process of returning to his home base at Fort Cavazos, Texas, after having been stationed at Camp Humphreys, a U.S. Army base in South Korea, where he met his Russian girlfriend.

The State Department issued a travel advisory in June against U.S. citizens’ visiting Russia because of the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, alleging that visitors may face “harassment or detention by Russian Security officials, arbitrary enforcement of local laws, limited flights into and out of Russia, and the possibility of terrorism.”

“The U.S. Embassy has limited ability to assist U.S. citizens in Russia,” the advisory stated. “The Department has determined that there is a continued risk of wrongful detention of U.S. nationals by Russian authorities.”

According to the DOD Foreign Clearance Guide, military personnel are restricted from traveling to foreign territory unless cleared.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.