US demands access to American facing weapons charges in Venezuela

The State Department is calling on the Venezuelan government to grant U.S. personnel access to an American citizen facing weapons charges in the country.

Joshua Holt, 25, has been detained in Venezuela for more than 17 months. A Venezuelan judge ruled this week that he must stand trial on charges that he and his wife were hiding weapons.

The State Department said Thursday that it was concerned about Holt’s health, which it says has deteriorated during his detention. 

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“Venezuela is legally obligated in accordance with the [Vienna] Convention to permit U.S. consular officers to visit U.S. citizens detained there,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.

“Too often, access is only belatedly granted, only to be canceled, withdrawn, or simply ignored, as was the case on Dec. 12,” she added. “We call on the Venezuelan government to grant immediate consular access to Mr. Holt.”

Holt, a Mormon missionary, traveled to Venezuela in 2016 to marry a fellow Mormon he met online, according to The Associated Press. The couple planned to move back to the U.S. after the marriage.

But the couple was arrested at the woman’s family’s home in Caracas and accused of hiding weapons.

Holt’s family has denied the charges. In an interview with the AP, the man’s mother, Laurie Holt, said she was “totally devastated” by the judge’s order for Holt to stand trial.

Laurie Holt released a 40-second voicemail from her son on Monday, in which he discusses his health issues.

“I’m very dizzy and I can’t think and my stomach hurts,” Holt says. “It hurts bad, and I don’t know what to do. I’ve never felt like this before.”