Venezuela appeals for help for missing relatives at US border

A Venezuelan official living in the southern US state of Georgia is appealing for help from authorities and anyone who can “humanely” provide information after his daughter, son-in-law and two granddaughters are missing.

Arelis Verde spoke to the Efe news agency and said that for a week, her relatives were “kidnapped” on the Mexican side while they were about to cross into the United States.

In a phone conversation, Verde declared himself “disappointed” that he had paid the ransom, but none of his relatives had been released.

“My daughter Claudia Rivero, my son-in-law Carlos Ospina and my two minor granddaughters (Victoria Alejandra and Carla Valentina), aged 12 and 10, were kidnapped on Friday, September 16, in Ciudad Juárez (Mexico),” Verde said.

According to Venezuela, the family arrived in Mexico by plane from Bogotá (Colombia) and were staying at a hotel in Ciudad Juarez when they disappeared.

She then received calls from people claiming to have them in their possession and demanding a ransom.

Verde, who received another call from the kidnappers on Tuesday, September 21, said, “They told me that they were going to kill them and that I should give them what they asked for, but they were not released.

“They asked us for more money and it was given to them. They said they would release the family in a few hours, but that was not the case. They switch off their phones and we never hear from them,” she warned.

Verde says the family paid the alleged kidnappers about $16,000 in two installments and is now “rebated.”

The lack of Venezuelan embassies in the U.S. complicates his situation because he has no one to turn to for help, he added.

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