(Adnkronos) – Italians Alberto Trentini and Mario Burlo were “very happy” at their release from over a year’s detention in Argentina without charge, foreign minister Antonio Tajani said Monday after premier Giorgia Meloni announced the two men were free in a post on X.
“They were very happy and were about to call their families, so I didn’t hold them up. It was important to give them a hug by phone and tell them they would soon return home,” Tajani told RTL 102.5 radio
“The plane that is due to go and collect them has already taken off, so they will be back in Italy overnight,” Tajani said on the ‘Non-Stop News’ programme. “They are both in good shape,” he said.
“I have always followed the cases personally,” said Tajani.
“Their liberation “is a strong signal” on the part of Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez, which the government much appreciates,” Tajani stated.
Trentini, an aid worker from Venice, who was held for 423 days, was among the best-known among over 20 Italian citizens held Venezuela’s prisons.
Trentini and Burlo were “safe at the Italian embassy in Caracas, Meloni wrote on X, stating that she had spoken to the pair and that their release gave her “joy and satisfaction”.
Trentini and Burlo’s release came after that of 77-year-old Luigi Gasperin, who was arrested in August during checks for alleged explosives transportation, and journalist Biagio Pilieri, who was arrested and imprisoned in August 2024. in the notorious Helicoide jail. Gasperin and Pilieri were freed on Friday.
Venezuela’s leadership said on Friday it would release a significant number of prisoners including foreign nationals, as a gesture of good will. The move followed demands from human rights groups, international bodies and opposition figures after the United States attacked Venezuela and captured its leftist president Nicolas Maduro and his wife on 3 January.
