Buenos Aires, Feb 11 (NA) -- Yalitza del Valle García, the mother-in-law of Argentine gendarme Nahuel Agustín Gallo, who is being held hostage in the Caribbean country, managed to attend a meeting with chavist deputies and demanded the immediate release of the citizen, who this Wednesday marks 430 days in a forced disappearance situation. The woman appeared at the opening session of the National Assembly of Venezuela and recalled that Gallo was arrested on December 8, 2024, at the San Antonio del Táchira border crossing, even though he was traveling with an invitation letter signed and stamped by her, a lawyer by profession. Since then, he has been incommunicado, without family visits and without access to private defense, reports this Wednesday Argentine Newsweek, as confirmed by the Argentine News Agency. During her speech, García recounted to the parliamentarians the circumstances of the detention and the total lack of official information about the whereabouts and legal status of her son-in-law. "But she came not as a gendarme, she came as an Argentine citizen," she stated. "They took him to Caracas. He knew more than the National Guard," she expressed. She also denounced harassment. The woman also denounced episodes of harassment and persecution: she stated that on December 25, while attending a church to pray for her son-in-law's release, a patrol of the feared Dirección General de Contrainteligencia Militar (DGCIM) followed her and remained in front of her residence for weeks. "Even the priest had to intervene so they wouldn't take us prisoner," she emphasized. García stated that she traveled to Caracas to try to speak with the regime's Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, during public events held in the city's squares. She commented that she managed to approach him on four occasions, but that the last time the official reacted with annoyance when her daughter, María Alexandra Gómez — Gallo's partner — approached him with her child in her arms. "How am I not going to pursue you if my husband is missing?" she replied between tears, according to her version. The Gallo family maintains that the Argentine gendarme has been forcibly disappeared, as there is no official information about his whereabouts, health status, or legal situation. They also did not allow him to communicate with his young son, Víctor, who has already turned three, the family accuses. The Argentine citizen was coming as a tourist to visit his family in Puerto La Cruz. And since I am his mother-in-law, I am not a direct relative, they do not give me information," she denounced. "They said he came to kill Delcy and it's a lie" García insisted before the deputies that the case is surrounded by falsehoods spread by official spokespeople and allied media, which linked Gallo to supposed violent plans without any evidence. "All lies," she assured. The lady recounted that she traveled at her own expense to San Antonio del Táchira and San Cristóbal to try to obtain information from security agencies and the Public Ministry, but no one told her anything. She even claimed that a man, whom border residents identified as a guerrilla, knew more about Gallo's destination than the officials themselves. The woman explained that since the day of the arrest there has been no communication whatsoever between Gallo and his family. "They said he came to kill Delcy, that he was a terrorist, that he was carrying weapons." He has not been able to communicate, he has not made a phone call, he has no visits. "Shamefully detained on December 8, with all his documents in order. His only crime, being a gendarme."
