BUENOS AIRES — Recently released Argentine detainee Nahuel Gallo met with U.S. Ambassador to Argentina Peter Lamelas in Buenos Aires on Thursday and called for the international community to increase pressure on the government of interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez to release other prisoners. Gallo spent 448 days imprisoned in Venezuela before being freed on March 1 after being detained on espionage accusations brought by the government of President Nicolás Maduro.

"The Maduro regime in Venezuela used the arbitrary detention of foreign citizens as a tool of political repression," Lamelas said. Gallo was arrested on December 8, 2024, while attempting to enter Venezuela to visit his partner, María Alexandra Gómez García, and their son.

At an immigration checkpoint, Venezuelan authorities searched Gallo's phone and found WhatsApp conversations with his partner about Venezuela's political and economic situation. He was transferred to the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence, where he was handcuffed, beaten and kicked during interrogations.

After interrogating him, agents forced Gallo into a truck and continued questioning him after finding contacts linked to Argentine judicial agencies on his cellphone. Agents threatened to throw him from the vehicle, pressed a gun against his head and pointed a Taser at him while accusing him of being a spy. Nearly three weeks after his arrest, Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab accused Gallo of participating in terrorist actions against Venezuela.

During nearly 15 months at Rodeo I, Gallo was beaten, received limited medical care and faced constant psychological pressure. He had no contact with Argentine officials and did not know whether negotiations for his release were underway. As a foreigner, he was not allowed to receive visits. Detainees had only a few minutes each day to bathe, wash clothes and use the bathroom, were frequently sprayed with pepper spray, and guards beat prisoners in nearby cells. After a year in detention, Gallo launched a hunger strike and spoke with his wife for the first time. The Venezuelan government has denied reports of abuses in prisons.

Gallo now uses social media to denounce conditions in Venezuelan prisons and advocate for those still detained. "I think we're still imprisoned until our fellow inmates are freed," he said. "The person who's still inside is waiting for the one who got out to do something."

The prisoners' rights group Foro Penal estimates that more than 400 people are detained in Venezuela for political reasons. On Tuesday, during a session at the legislative palace in Caracas, National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez announced plans to release 300 detainees. Delcy Rodríguez has served as acting president since January and has promised democratic reforms.