The Latin American television network Univision said Monday that a news team led by anchor Jorge Ramos was arrested at the presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela shortly after interviewing President Nicolás Maduro.
Univision’s Jorge Ramos
According to a press agent for Maduro, the arrests were ordered after the president said “he did not like the questions that Ramos was asking.”
Ramos, one of the most recognizable news anchors and reporters in Latin America, made headlines in 2015 when then presidential candidate Donald Trump told Ramos to “sit down and go back to Univision” after Ramos asked a question at a press conference. Ramos was then escorted from the room.
“Nicolás Maduro did not agree with the tone of the questions that Jorge Ramos asked him during an interview and he and his technical teams were temporarily arrested,” Univisión said following the incident. The press agent said that Ramos referred to Maduro as a “dictator” and “murderer” during the interview, a charge Ramos denies.
“I was simply alluding to charges made by leaders of the political opposition against the government and were not inferring anything more,” Ramos said. “I was asking for a response from Mr. Maduro.”
The incident was one of several in recent weeks concerning foreign news media and the Venezuelan government.
In early February, three journalists from the Spanish news agency EFE and their Venezuelan driver were detained by the Venezuelan National Intelligence Service (Sebin). Last week, a Colombian photographer and his driver were detained on the street in Caracas during protests the same day a Spanish news reporter was arrested and briefly detained.
In the latter case, the reporter was released after the government of Spain complained.
