Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro briefly detained American journalist Jorge Ramos and five members of his news crew before releasing them unharmed Monday night, Spanish-language U.S. news network Univision said.
The veteran Mexican-born journalist and Univision anchor was interviewing Maduro when the embattled president took umbrage with his line of questioning, detained his team and ordered their equipment confiscated, Univision said in a tweet.
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“They were later released unharmed,” Univision reported, adding that the recording of the interview was confiscated.
The U.S. State Department had called for the “immediate release” of Ramos and his team.
“We insist on their immediate release; the world is watching,” Kimberly Breier, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs,” said in a tweet.
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The Venezuelan government hasn’t issued any statement on the reported detentions.