Foreign journalists arrested in Venezuela: press union

AFP  |  Caracas (Venezuela) 

Two British journalists and an Argentine were detained by the Venezuelan military Friday at the northwestern border with Colombia, the (SNTP) said.

It said their whereabouts are unknown but claimed they had been "in for three days reporting on tourism."

Three people hired as security by the journalists were arrested Wednesday, the SNTP said.

All three state on their they work for British television production company

Rivers was previously a in and Bangkok, according to his account, while Saravia has worked for the and

Green worked for in and Washington, according to his profile.

Several foreign journalists have been deported by Venezuelan authorities in recent years as they didn't have permits authorizing them to work in the country.

has attracted a great number of foreign journalists looking to report on its economic and political crises during four years of recession under

Citizens face shortages of basic necessities such as and medicines and failing such as water, and transport.

It has resulted in 1.6 million Venezuelans fleeing the country since 2015, according to the

Organizations such as SNTP have accused of violating press freedom through the closure of media outlets, censorship and the restriction of paper deliveries, which are monopolized by authorities.

For his part, Maduro has accused international of being mouthpieces for a United States-backed campaign involving the opposition to overthrow him.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Sat, September 15 2018. 04:50 IST