Lucas’ Story In The News
The State Department is ramping up efforts to dissuade Americans from traveling to Venezuela after revealing on Tuesday that the country is unjustly imprisoning more Americans than any other country.
"There are more U.S. citizens being held in prisons in Venezuela than any other country," said Adam Boehler, the Trump administration's special presidential envoy for hostage recovery.
The State Department is also warning U.S. nationals that in some cases, even close proximity to the Venezuelan border has led to detention by the country's government.
That's what happened to Lucas Hunter, a 37-year-old dual American and French citizen who was captured by the Venezuelan government in January while on a windsurfing trip in Colombia.
Hunter's family said he never intended to visit Venezuela but that he was coerced across the border by the country's border guards.
Although Hunter remains in Venezuelan custody, the Trump administration has successfully negotiated the release of seven other Americans.
Lucas Hunter, 37, was motorcycling and kite surfing along the northern coast of Colombia when he sent his sister Sophie a disturbing message.
“What he told me in the (WhatsApp) voice note was, "I was riding my scooter. I saw the [Venezuela] border, like some kind of checkpoint border thing from far, and I tried to reverse in my motorbike, and then I got grabbed by Venezuelan military forces,” Sophie, 30, tells PEOPLE about the Jan. 7 message. “They took me across the border. I'm being held in Venezuela, help me.’"
“I panicked,” says Sophie, who lives and works in Switzerland. “And immediately I was very, very, very, very scared. And I thought the worst could happen to him.”
She could tell, she says, that her brother was terrified.
“He's my older brother, so I knew that he was trying not to scare me, but basically, he was scared," she says.
On January 7, 2025, in a remote area close to the border, Lucas saw a checkpoint in the distance, and reversed, he told Sophie. But it was too late. He said he “got kidnapped, abducted by Venezuelan military forces … who took him across the border,” she recounted to CNN.
“He said, ‘I’m sending you this pin location from where I’m detained’,” Sophie said. “He was telling me, ‘It’s been four hours. I don’t understand what’s going on. I don’t speak Spanish. But they are writing reports saying that I had no intention to cross.’”
Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated nine Americans in Venezuela as wrongfully detained. According to Sophie, her brother is one of the nine.
Prior to his designation, Sophie said she had been working with the US Embassy in Bogota. Now that he has been deemed wrongfully detained, his case will be handled by the office of the US Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs. The designation provides the US government more tools to try to negotiate his release. It also opens up access to resources for families of the wrongfully detained.
“It is unacceptable that the regime has arrested and jailed Americans under questionable circumstances and without respect for their rights,” a State Department spokesperson said. “All Americans unjustly detained by the Maduro regime must be released immediately.”
WASHINGTON, March 7 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday determined that there are nine wrongfully detained Americans in Venezuela, a State Department spokesperson said on Friday, calling for President Nicolas Maduro's government to release them immediately.
"It is unacceptable that the regime has arrested and jailed Americans under questionable circumstances and without respect for their rights," the spokesperson said.
"All Americans unjustly detained by the Maduro regime must be released immediately. The United States continues our efforts to secure the release of any remaining Americans unjustly detained by the regime in Venezuela."
Lucas Hunter, a 37-year-old French-American citizen, was among those determined to be wrongfully detained, his sister, Sophie, said in a statement on Friday.
"Venezuela has been put on notice," she wrote.
Hace 58 días que Lucas Hunter un estadounidense y francés de 36 años, que no habla español, fue detenido por funcionarios venezolanos en el paso fronterizo entre Colombia y Venezuela, “aunque nunca intentó entrar ni quiso ir a Venezuela” ha dicho su familia a través de redes sociales tratando de obtener información pública ya que no la han logrado por vía de los organismos del régimen de Nicolás Maduro.
Lo que ha relatado su familia es que el 7 de enero de 2025, Hunter “se encontraba haciendo windsurf en Colombia cuando la carretera por la que circulaba se acercó a la frontera con Venezuela”, fue entonces cuando funcionarios venezolanos lo obligaron a ingresar a territorio venezolano.
Ese 7 de enero Lucas iba en moto por Paraguachón y la carretera lo acercó a la frontera con Venezuela, cuando al percatarse “dio media vuelta para alejarse, pero fue coaccionado por los agentes fronterizos venezolanos que cruzaron a Colombia para atraparlo”, relata la familia del joven.