US Demands Venezuela Provide Update On Detained 6 CITGO Executives - State Department

The United States demands that the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro provide an immediate update on the whereabouts and conditions of six wrongfully detained US persons known as the "CITGO-6," State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said in a statement on Friday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2019) The United States demands that the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro provide an immediate update on the whereabouts and conditions of six wrongfully detained US persons known as the "CITGO-6," State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said in a statement on Friday.

"The United States has received numerous conflicting reports regarding the welfare and whereabouts of the wrongfully detained 'CITGO 6' in Venezuela, and we insist that the former Maduro regime provide an immediate update on their condition," the statement said.

Ortagus noted that the United States on Monday condemned the wrongful detention and treatment of the six at the hands of the Venezuelan government, adding they should be set free right away.

"We continue to demand the immediate release of the CITGO 6," Ortagus said.

In October 2017, the six executives of CITGO - a Houston-based refinery that is the US subsidiary of Venezuela's national oil company PDVSA - were detained by the Venezuelan government at a business meeting in the capital Caracas.

The State Department has said the six executives - five US citizens and one permanent resident - have been held without trial and denied contact with the department as well as with humanitarian organizations and religious groups.