
Oil tycoon Wilmer Ruperti showed up for a meeting with Venezuela’s intelligence agency last Thursday. A week later, he’s still in custody, one of his lawyers told Semafor.
“We’ve reached out to everybody trying to get proof of life or some support,” Winston & Strawn’s Cari Stinebower said, adding that officials still haven’t conveyed “how he’s being treated or why he’s being detained.”
Ruperti, who arrived at the meeting with a security detail, is a Venezuelan Italian shipping magnate who trades in petroleum coke. His detainment followed interim President Delcy Rodríguez’s decision to elevate the agency’s longtime chief to defense minister.
“The message is that Venezuela is open for business — but detaining businessmen for days on end without any due process or access to counsel is more old regime,” Stinebower said. “This is not law and order and not conducive of a welcoming business environment.”
The State Department and Energy Department did not respond to requests for comment.
LATEST POSTS
- 1
‘Grit’ and relentless perseverance can take a toll on brain health − particularly for people facing social stresses like racism - 2
Record-breaking flu hospitalizations in New York in a single week: Health officials - 3
Parents speak out as 4-year-old fights button battery injury in intensive care unit - 4
Tablets: Upgrade Your Understanding Experience - 5
Recalled Super Greens diet supplement powder sickens 45 with salmonella
ACA subsidies latest: Making sense of what's happening with health care after Republicans revolt, forcing a vote on funding extension
'Heated Rivalry' is just the tip of the iceberg. How hockey became the sexiest sport
Step by step instructions to Protect Your Senior Condo for Ideal Wellbeing and Solace
Becoming the best at Discussion: Individual Procedures
Fundamental Archives for Beginning Your Business
Fascinating Fishing Objections From Around The World
4 Jeep Models: Dominating Execution and Flexibility for Each Experience
Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson hospitalized, family requests prayers
Zelensky warns of imminent massive Russian attack on Ukraine













