Diaz-Balart Calls for Release of Former Venezuelan Political Prisoner Detained in U.S.

U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, (R-FL) wrote a letter to Kristi Noem, the United States Secretary of Homeland Security over concerns regarding Venezuelan political prisoner Gregory Sanabria. 

“I sent a letter to DHS raising serious concerns about its recent detainment of Gregory Sanabria, a brave political prisoner who spent more than three years imprisoned—including in Maduro’s infamous torture center, El Helicoide.” he wrote in a statement on social media.

Rep. Diaz-Balart expressed broader concerns about the U.S. detaining and potentially deporting a growing number of people who have fled oppressive regimes.

"Cases like Sanabria’s, and so many others with legitimate claims of persecution, require a thorough review." he added.

Balart closes his statement vouching for Sanabria’s release from detainment in the Montgomery Processing Center in Texas. 

“Sanabria must not be returned to his oppressors.” he said.

The United States must continue to be a beacon of freedom and democracy–because when we protect those fleeing tyranny, we demonstrate American exceptionalism, uphold our leadership, and strengthen our national security in the face of threats from anti-American criminal narco-dictatorships like the one in Venezuela.”

Gregory Sanabria Tarazona was a university student who participated in demonstrations against Maduro in 2014.

Prison guards at El Helicoide, the notorious headquarters of Maduro’s intelligence service, severely beat him, according to the United Nations and Amnesty International.

Sanabria fears that U.S. authorities will deport him to El Salvador, where officials would imprison him in the notorious Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), the country’s maximum security prison known for its harsh conditions.

Sanabria’s family and lawyers fear that if the U.S. deports him to Venezuela, he will face serious threats to his safety and possible persecution by the same security forces that imprisoned him for years.

“No matter what, he can’t go back,” said María Graciela Sanabria Tarazona, his mother who now lives in Colombia.  “I ask God that he will be freed.”