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Alberto Trentini Details Coercive Polygraph After 423 Days Held in Venezuela

Italian coverage links his release to a January detainee order plus U.S. pressure.

Overview

  • Speaking in his first TV interview on Che Tempo Che Fa, Trentini described being hooded and handcuffed, then questioned in a hot room during a polygraph session with fingertip and neck sensors and deliberate psychological pressure.
  • Trentini said interrogators pressed him with politicized questions, including whether he came to Venezuela to overthrow the government, and coached a control lie to try to trigger a failed reading.
  • He was arrested on 15 November 2024 at a checkpoint near Guasdualito, held without formal charges, and imprisoned in El Rodeo I in Caracas for a total of 423 days.
  • He was freed on 12 January 2026 as part of a broader release of political detainees ordered by Delcy Rodríguez, with reporting connecting the timing to heightened U.S. pressure.
  • Coverage also ties the case to the Alex Saab proceeding in Rome, which ended on 31 October 2025 with a plea deal and financial payments, while noting opaque negotiations and Italy’s limited diplomatic leverage in Caracas.