This article has been updated.
WASHINGTON — A Catholic News Service contributor in Caracas,
Venezuela, was taken by military counterintelligence officials after his home
was raided early March 6.
Cody Weddle, 29, best known for reporting for Miami ABC affiliate
WPLG and The Miami Herald, was held more than 12 hours before Venezuelan
authorities escorted him to the airport to return to the U.S. His assistant, Carlos
Camacho, also was held but was later released.
Weddle had reported on air March 5 about Venezuelan opposition
leader Juan Guaido's return to the country.
A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy to Venezuela told Catholic News
Service the embassy was aware of the arrest but could not share information.
In Washington, Greg Erlandson, Catholic News Service director and
editor-in-chief, expressed deep concern about Weddle's disappearance.
"We ask Venezuelan gov't to release him and Carlos Camacho
immediately," Erlandson said in a tweet March 6. "We urge the U.S.
government to advocate on Cody's behalf and ask for prayers for his
safety."
Weddle, a 2012 graduate of Virginia Tech University, has degrees
in journalism and political science. He has reported from Venezuela for several
years.
In addition to reporting on Venezuelan politics, he has reported
on church issues for Catholic News Service and for Global Sisters Report, a
project of National Catholic Reporter. In January, he reported for CNS about
the Venezuelan bishops' statements that called anti-government street protests
"a sign of hope" and called Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's
government "illegitimate."
In August, he traveled to Colombia to cover the Latin American
bishops' council meeting marking 50 years since their meeting expressing a
preferential option for the poor.
His most recent story for Global Sisters Report was how nursing
homes run by women religious were enduring Venezuela's economic crisis.
Venezuela, which has spent years in a downward economic spiral,
is facing a constitutional crisis. In January, Guaido, leader of the
opposition-led National Assembly, declared himself interim president of
Venezuela after allegations that Maduro's re-election last year was rigged.
Dozens of countries have recognized Guaido as interim president, but military
leaders continue to back Maduro.