Six oil executives (five Americans and one with permanent residence in the same country) imprisoned for three years in Venezuela saw their hopes crumble on Thursday that they would be released, after a judge found them guilty of corruption, condemning them to spend more years in prison.
Those sentenced claim their innocence
.
All six are employees of the Houston, Texas-based refining company CITGO, which is owned by Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.
Three years ago, they were summoned to Venezuela for a business meeting scheduled a few days before the Thanksgiving holiday.
They promised they would return in time to celebrate with their families,
but once there, they were arrested.
Their families have claimed that the six, whose case has become known as the
CITGO six
, have been detained in horrible conditions, which has also led to health problems such as alarming weight loss, in a country drowned by confusion and food shortages.
["He went to a meeting and never came back": the uncertain future of six CITGO executives detained in Venezuela]
Since last July, two of them, Gustavo Cárdenas and Jorge Toledo, have been under house arrest after the
mediation of the former Democratic governor of New Mexico and former US ambassador to the UN Bill Richardson
, who traveled to Caracas with a team of non-governmental negotiators, CNN reports.
A daughter of Tomeu Vadell, another of the prisoners, told the Financial Times that her father also spent some time in house custody between cells.
In July, the trial began against the six, accused by Venezuela of being responsible for a massive corruption plan potentially damaging to the state oil company.
The prisoners have appeared in court several times to testify,
handcuffed and dressed in typical orange jail suits
, according to the same media.
Four months of closed-door hearings
After four months of closed-door hearings for journalists and activists, just on Thanksgiving this year came the convicting verdict.
The sentences are
between 8 and 10 years
in prison for the five defendants with US citizenship (Tomeu Vadell, Gustavo Cárdenas, Jorge Toledo and the brothers José Luis Zambrano and Alirio Zambrano) and
13 years
for the executive with permanent residence in the United States ( José Pereira), reports the news agency The Associated Press.
[The United States appoints its first ambassador to Venezuela in a decade]
The families of the condemned and the lawyers who represent them assure that the sentence against them is wrong and unfair.
Alirio Rafael Zambrano, brother of two of the prisoners,
maintained that they are "undeniably innocent" and victims of "judicial terrorism
.
"
In the opinion of attorney María Alejandra Poleo, who worked on behalf of three of the defendants, the case is "totally lacking in evidence."
Defense attorneys
assured that they will appeal
the judge's
decision
to convict their clients.
The Attorney General of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, for its part, said in a statement sent to the AP that investigators found serious evidence to corroborate the accusations.
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"The Citgo case has developed normally during all the stages established by the Venezuelan criminal process," the statement read.
In announcing the verdict and convictions, Venezuela's Supreme Court of Justice did not comment on the outcome of the trial.
Citgo said in a statement sent to NPR public radio that company representatives
have only seen media reports about the conviction
of their colleagues.
"We continue to pray for them and their families and we await a resolution that will lead to their early release," the company said.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said last weekend that the US government would continue to do "everything possible" to release prisoners.
[20 years in prison: two former US military men accused of participating in an armed incursion against Maduro were convicted in Venezuela]
Richardson told the AP that talks with the Venezuelan government are still ongoing, despite the fact that his meeting with Maduro was "a bit hectic."
He said he believed an opportunity had arisen linked to the victory of President-elect Joe Biden and a desire by Maduro to improve relations with Washington.
"My hope is to have something positive for Christmas," he said
.
Defense attorney Jesús Loreto said the five with the lesser sentences could be paroled in a couple of years.
One of the prisoners speaks for the first time
Tomeu Vadell spoke for the first time publicly since he was detained shortly before the sentence was passed against him, through a letter written in the prison in Caracas where he is imprisoned and provided to the AP.
In the handwritten text, he assured that he
wanted his name to come out clean and return home to the United States
to be reunited with his family.
"During the trial, the truth has turned out to be unassailable," he said, "it proved that I am innocent."
Image of Tomeu Vadell at his home in Louisiana before he was arrested by Venezuelan authorities in 2017. Image of Tomeu Vadell at his home in Louisiana before being arrested by Venezuelan authorities in 2017.
Vadell noted in the letter that it is especially painful to be separated during the Thanksgiving season from his wife, three grown children and a newborn grandson whom he has never been able to see.
"Before experiencing this tragedy, these celebrations were very special times for my family," wrote Vadell, who said that he adopted the custom of celebrating this American holiday after moving in 1999 from Caracas to Lake Charles, Louisiana, for a job in the Venezuelan oil company Citgo.
"Now they bring me a lot of sadness," he added.
However, he says he tries to stay optimistic.
"
I think it is more important that the light of hope illuminates us
," he
wrote
, "that the light of hope end the sadness of my family."
With information from AP, CNN, NPR and Financial Times.