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The spouse of a once-detained American citizen was launched this week after being held for greater than a yr in a Venezuelan jail following their arrest whereas touring to the South American nation to satisfy her household.
Renzo Humanchumo Castillo, a Peruvian- American who was detained for near a yr by Venezuelan authorities, advised Fox Information Digital that his Venezuelan spouse, Rosa Carolina Chirino Zambrano, in addition to her pal and the taxi driver they had been with, had been launched after being imprisoned and charged with espionage resulting from their contact with him.
He spoke with Zambrano following her launch, he mentioned, their first contact since December 2024 after they had been confronted by Venezuelan authorities close to the nation’s border with Colombia.
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Renzo Humanchumo Castillo, a Peruvian- American who’s a former Venezuelan detainee, and his spouse, Rosa Carolina Chirino Zambrano, had been detained in Venezuela after he was accused of plotting to kill Nicolas Maduro. (Courtesy of Renzo Humanchumo Castillo; Getty Photos)
“It was surreal,” Castillo recalled of the dialog. “She acquired teary, , however she was like… ‘hey child, I am out.’ Now my predominant concern is how do I get her right here with me.”
Castillo, who lives in Southern California, was detained after crossing the border into Venezuela, alongside along with his spouse and her pal, who had been in a taxi. After being questioned at size by Venezuelan authorities, he was charged with terrorism and conspiring to kill Nicolas Maduro, then the nation’s president, who was lately captured by U.S. forces in a daring army operation.
“They acquired me as knowledgeable hitman despatched by the CIA, and (that) I used to be there to overthrow the federal government and kill Maduro and Diosdado (Cabello),” Castillo mentioned.
A Venezuelan nationwide guard’s tank stays exterior El Rodeo jail in Venezuela. ((Photograph by Pedro MATTEY / AFP through Getty Photos)
Diosdado Cabello, referred to as the “octopus,” runs Venezuela’s safety equipment and is taken into account one of many nation’s most feared authorities figures. The U.S. has accused him of narco-terrorism and a number of other different crimes. The State Division has issued a $25 million reward for his arrest and conviction.
“Cabello, he introduced me on the information, after which he put me on a chart saying that I got here right here to overthrow the federal government,” Castillo mentioned. “Me and another People.”
After spending months in Venezuela’s infamous “El Rodeo” jail, Castillo was freed in a prisoner swap in July 2025. Nonetheless, his spouse remained in detention.
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A lady makes use of a cell phone on a tent arrange by kinfolk of political prisoners exterior El Rodeo I jail in Guatire, Miranda State, east of Caracas on Jan. 13. ((Photograph by Pedro MATTEY / AFP through Getty Photos))
Castillo mentioned he was initially questioned by Venezuelan authorities who accused him of being a “commando” or some sort of army operator.
A search of his cellular phone solely heightened their suspicions after they discovered photographs of him sporting a protecting vest and different tactical gear. Nonetheless, Castillo mentioned he works in personal safety and government safety and has by no means served within the army.
The gear was used for work, he mentioned.
He was ultimately detained and transferred to “El Rodeo” the place he endured beatings and different types of torture, he mentioned. In a single occasion, he was hung by his arms like a piñata and crushed.
“That they had me hanging. And like my ft had been nonetheless sort of touching the ground,” he mentioned. “They only hit me for possibly not less than 5 to eight hours, simply hanging… simply not even questions anymore. However you’ll be able to really feel the enjoyment, how a lot they wished to hit me, harm me, ?”
Castillo acquired in bother a number of occasions whereas on the jail, he mentioned, for talking out of a window in his cell the place he would generally get updates on occasions exterior the ability. Pressured about not figuring out what occurred to his spouse, he went on a starvation strike in an effort to write down a letter to her, he mentioned.
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Members of the Bolivarian Nationwide Militia patrol on a avenue within the 23 de Enero neighborhood throughout a army train, in Caracas, Venezuela January 23, 2025. (Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/Reuters)
Castillo met Zambrano throughout a go to to Peru to reunite with previous classmates from grade faculty. One evening, he went to a bar with pals the place the pair met and struck up a friendship.
That was adopted by a number of journeys to Peru, the place she lived, earlier than they acquired married. On his final journey, the couple met in Colombia and traveled through highway to her dwelling nation to satisfy his in-laws for the primary time, Castillo mentioned.
After crossing the Colombia-Venezuela border, they had been individually detained and their misfortune started.
Since Zambrano is a Venezuelan citizen, she was not a part of the prisoner swap that freed her husband. Regardless of now being free, she stays below the watchful eye of the Venezuelan authorities, Castillo mentioned.
Within the meantime, Castillo is working to get Zambrano to California. He mentioned he plans to succeed in out to the State Division. Regardless of his spouse’s citizenship standing, his optimism heightened following Maduro’s seize earlier this month.
A side-by-side picture of President Donald Trump and Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez. (Joe Raedle/Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Photos)
“It was that second when, within me, I felt I used to be going to have the ability to see my spouse once more,” he mentioned. “The probabilities of me seeing my spouse once more simply went from like, from nothing to love 100. It actually lifted my spirit.”
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“It took People and it took foreigners to be kidnapped for the world to place eyes on Venezuela,” he mentioned.
On Tuesday, Venezuela’s interim authorities launched not less than 4 People imprisoned throughout Maduro’s regime. The discharge was the primary involving U.S. residents since Maduro’s seize by U.S. forces.
“We welcome the discharge of detained People in Venezuela,” a State Division official mentioned Tuesday. “This is a vital step in the appropriate path by the interim authorities.”
Nicolas Maduro and his spouse, Cilia Flores, are seen in handcuffs after touchdown at a Manhattan helipad, escorted by closely armed Federal brokers as they make their means into an armored automotive en path to a Federal courthouse in Manhattan on January 5, 2026 in New York Metropolis. (XNY/Star Max/GC Photos)
On Wednesday, Appearing Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez mentioned she spoke with President Donald Trump by telephone throughout a “lengthy and courteous” dialog. The pair mentioned a “bilateral work agenda for the good thing about our peoples, in addition to pending issues between our governments.”
On Reality Social, Trump mentioned matters of dialogue included oil, minerals, commerce and nationwide safety.
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“This partnership between the US of America and Venezuela can be a spectacular one FOR ALL. Venezuela will quickly be nice and affluent once more, maybe extra so than ever earlier than!” he wrote.
Castillo praised the Trump administration for addressing the Maduro regime and his motion in Venezuela.
“I really feel like the present administration is doing the onerous work that it hasn’t been finished,” he mentioned. “These issues that generally individuals do not need to see and are afraid to say, properly, they’re doing it now. And I’m very grateful to the administration. I am very grateful to my president. Very grateful to (Secretary of State) Marco Rubio, as a result of they did all of this. They acquired us out.”
