Italian Aid Worker Detained in Venezuela - Global Pressure Builds

Humanitarian groups and Italian officials demand answers after months of silence.

LOS ANGELES - Alberto Trentini, an Italian humanitarian worker, has been held without charges by Venezuelan authorities since November 2024, triggering mounting diplomatic tension and an international campaign for his release.

Trentini, 45, worked for Humanity & Inclusion, a global NGO focused on vulnerable populations in conflict zones. He was arrested while traveling from Caracas to Guasdualito and later transferred to Venezuela’s military counterintelligence agency, DGCIM. He has since been held incommunicado - without access to a lawyer, his family, or the outside world.

Nearly nine months later, the Venezuelan government has failed to disclose any charges against him. His detention has raised serious human rights concerns, including possible violations of international protections for humanitarian workers and what critics call a broader crackdown under President Nicolás Maduro’s regime.

The arrest has become a flashpoint for aid organizations and European diplomats. Without communication, Trentini’s family fears for his well-being, as concerns of mistreatment, abuse, or torture grow more urgent by the day.

The case is especially sensitive given Italy-Venezuela relations and the broader role of the European Union in advocating for human rights abroad. Italy has been one of the EU’s most active members in pushing for humanitarian protections in Latin America, and this incident is straining already fragile diplomatic ties. It also places pressure on the EU to prove its commitments aren’t just rhetorical.

In January, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani summoned Venezuela’s chargé d’affaires to demand answers. Talks of a high-level meeting at Palazzo Chigi - the seat of Italy’s government - are ongoing.

With little progress, civil society has stepped in. Since February, advocacy groups have launched #FreeAlberto campaigns, hunger strikes, and flash mobs in Venice, Rome, and Padua. Over 105,000 signatures have been collected to pressure both Venezuelan and Italian officials into action.

Trentini is not the first humanitarian worker to be detained in Venezuela without clear legal justification. His case highlights the collapse of legal norms under Maduro and the growing global erosion of protections for international aid staff.

Now, with the next EU Parliament session on the horizon, Trentini has become a symbol - not just of one man’s imprisonment, but of a larger fight for rights, accountability, and the survival of humanitarian work under authoritarian rule.