Venezuelan diplomat Aldo Perfetto released after 18 months imprisoned in Caracas
The second secretary of the Venezuelan embassy in Mexico was freed on Thursday after being detained in March 2025 at Maiquetía airport.
Venezuelan diplomat released after year and a half confined to high-security module
Aldo Perfetto Alexandrow, second secretary of the Venezuelan embassy in Mexico, was released on Thursday after approximately eighteen months of confinement in El Peñón, a high-security module administered by military intelligence agencies in Caracas, according to infobae.com. Following news of his release, a photograph taken in the vicinity of the detention centre circulated.
His arrest dates back to 21 March 2025. Agents of the Dirección General de Contrainteligencia Militar (DGCIM) boarded the aircraft on which Perfetto Alexandrow was travelling from Mexico before the plane completed disembarkation at Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía. A source connected to the case recounted that the officials entered the aircraft and handcuffed him in his seat. The diplomat was carrying a diplomatic pouch at the time of the interception.
The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations establishes that diplomatic pouches cannot be opened or retained, and that diplomatic agents enjoy protections against the authorities of the receiving State. Nonetheless, the treaty itself clarifies that such immunity does not exempt a diplomat from the jurisdiction of the State that sent him.
Perfetto Alexandrow was not the first member of the Venezuelan representation in Mexico to be detained. Benedicto Alvarado, Yaimara Giménez, Gustavo Sánchez and Jairo Ramírez had been arrested on 1 March 2025, three weeks earlier, and transferred first to military facilities before being confined to El Peñón. Venezuelan authorities linked the case to an alleged shortfall of 6 million dollars attributed to irregular charges for migration and consular services. Part of those payments, according to the authorities, had been made in cryptocurrencies and were not properly recorded.
The five detained officials had worked under the direction of Francisco Arias Cárdenas, who left the Venezuelan embassy in Mexico in November 2024. Stella Lugo replaced him as Venezuelan representative in the country at the end of that year, and changes to the embassy staff continued in the following months. Among the dismissed personnel were employees who had worked directly with the previous ambassador.
Arias Cárdenas is a figure with a long trajectory in Venezuelan politics. He participated in the attempted coup d'état of 4 February 1992, led by Hugo Chávez, and later served as governor of Zulia state. Between 2019 and 2024 he served as Venezuelan ambassador to Mexico.
Perfetto Alexandrow's profile differs from that of his former superior. He is a career diplomat specialising in economic affairs, international negotiations and multilateral organisations. The Rotary Peace Center of North Carolina identifies him as a graduate of a master's degree in International Development Policy from Duke University and highlights his experience in multilateral bodies. Before his posting in Mexico, he had represented Venezuela before various international organisations.
During the first days following his arrest, relatives and people close to the diplomat publicly denounced that they did not know his whereabouts. More than two weeks passed before it was confirmed where he was being held.
At the close of this report, Venezuelan authorities had not publicly informed the conditions under which his release occurred or the final status of the judicial process linked to the accusations that led to his detention.
Source: Google News VE — Crime