
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
'I was diagnosed with incurable brain cancer on holiday' - 2
Eco-Accommodating Kitchen Machines: 4 Picks for a Manageable Home - 3
COGAT discovers motor oil hidden inside UN's humanitarian aid to Gaza in smuggling attempt - 4
Timex Gives Its Classic Affordable Field Watch a Tactical, Milspec Makeover - 5
Selena Quintanilla documentary 'Selena y Los Dinos: A Family's Legacy' is coming to Netflix
Clocks to go forward one hour in Europe as summer time starts
'Stranger Things' Season 5: What's going on with Will Byers? That shocking Volume 1 plot twist, explained.
Spanish woman, 25, dies by legal euthanasia in case that drew national spotlight
State asks High Court to reject challenge to anti-UNRWA laws ahead of Monday hearing
Taylor Momsen explains why she quit 'Gossip Girl': 'I really didn't want to be there'
Miley Cyrus details her fear of paper, says fiancé Maxx Morando opens their packages outside: 'That's really why I got engaged'
6 Fun Urban areas For Seniors To Travel
Must-Have Cooking Machine in Your Kitchen
4 Dazzling And Well known Island Objections In US










