Venezuelan authorities on Tuesday deported journalist Jorge Ramos and his Univision news crew after they were briefly detained at the presidential palace following an interview with President Nicolas Maduro, which was abruptly terminated over tough questions posed to him.
The Univision network, the leading Spanish-language television network in the United States, with millions of loyal viewers, confirmed that Ramos and the six-member crew have been deported after being detained on Monday, held for more than two hours in the Miraflores palace and had their camera equipment and phones seized.
They were eventually released, but without having their equipment and footage returned, Ramos said, adding that the interview with Maduro lasted about 17 minutes before the Venezuelan president abruptly ended the interview.
Ramos said Maduro didn’t like the line of questioning, in particular, when asked whether he was a president or a dictator and to respond to accusations from opposition leader Juan Guaido that he was a usurper of power.
Maduro arbitrarily detains @Univision team headed by @jorgeramosnews
Six journalists from Univision News were detained while interviewing Nicolás #Maduro at the Miraflores Palace and their equipment confiscated. https://t.co/NqbGquTUYp pic.twitter.com/HiOBEOo1sc— Univision News (@UnivisionNews) February 26, 2019
The Univision news crew, accompanied by U.S. and Mexican diplomats, was escorted to the airport by members of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN), the repressive Venezuelan police force, according to Carlos Correa, who heads the Caracas-based free-speech NGO Espacio Publico.
Speaking from Caracas Monday night, Ramos told Univision anchor Patricia Janiot during a phone call that aired on the network’s broadcast that he asked Maduro to comment on the fact that millions of Venezuelans don’t consider him a legitimate president because of questions surrounding the validity of the results of the 2018 elections.
Venezuela’s government denied Ramos’ account. They accused him of trying to stage an international incident. “Hundreds of journalists have passed through Miraflores and received the same decent treatment we give all those doing journalistic work,” Venezuela’s Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez said on Twitter.
At home, Ramos has previously angered one of Maduro’s strongest critics, U.S. President Donald Trump, who famously had the journalist removed from a news conference on the campaign trail in 2015 when he asked about his anti-immigrant views toward Mexicans.
More than 50 governments around the world have recognized legislative opposition leader Juan Guaido when on January 23 he proclaimed himself “interim president” of Venezuela, challenging Maduro’s legitimacy for a second term.
