Los Angeles lawmakers are urging President Joe Biden to intervene in the case of a local attorney who was kidnapped in Venezuela in March and languishing in jail there, accused of committing crimes.
Eyvin Hernandez is a Los Angeles County deputy public defender who was on vacation in Colombia when he went to the Colombian-Venezuelan border to help a friend with a problem involving his passport. He was then kidnapped by either a paramilitary group, a gang, or Venezuelan forces, City News Service reported.
Newly installed Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) and several members of Congress penned a letter to Biden on Wednesday after a recent Venezuelan prisoner swap did not include Hernandez.
“The charges against Mr. Hernandez include criminal association and conspiracy, and together could result in a sentence of up to 16 years,” the letter said. “The judicial system in Venezuela is highly compromised, and any trial against Mr. Hernandez is unlikely to produce a fair result. … The Biden Administration must take immediate action to return Eyvin Hernandez home to his family, friends, and community in Los Angeles.”
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The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution in October urging federal authorities to help bring Hernandez home when he was not included in a group of seven Americans who were released after intense negotiations between the two countries.
The hostages included several oil executives who had been jailed for five years after being lured to the country to attend a fake business meeting. In return, the U.S. government released two drug smugglers who were serving 18 years in federal prison, CNN reported.
The pair were nephews of Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro’s wife.
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Hernandez’s family still holds out hope for his release.
“My brother Eyvin has been held captive in a dungeon and denied freedom in Caracas, Venezuela, for far too long — nearly nine months too long,” said Henry Martinez in a statement. “It is unbearable for myself, my mom and dad, my children, and his many friends to see him suffer and to find ourselves helpless in rescuing him from this misery he is in.”
