The government works in silence to free Trentini

A complex negotiation that is nevertheless going on with lights off. For the future of Alberto Trentini, the cooperator detained in Venezuela in a maximum security prison for over 400 days, these are crucial days. The U.S. blitz that effectively decapitated the political summit in Caracas with the capture of Nicola Maduro, may represent a fundamental turning point for a positive development of the affair.

However, the path remains narrow and paved with pitfalls, but there are assurances from the Italian government that the negotiations remain open. 'Until Sunday evening I spoke with our ambassador in Caracas,' says Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, 'we are working and trying the possible and the impossible. We hope that with Rodriguez the dialogue will be easier to bring home a person who has done no harm'. The number one at the Farnesina added that the Italian authorities are also working on the other political prisoners: 'there are about 20 of them' and 'we are strongly committed to bringing them home'.

These words are matched by those of the undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, with responsibility for intelligence, Alfredo Mantovano, who is closely following the dossier. "The government has worked from day one for the liberation" of the Venetian cooperator and "continues to work", says the government exponent, adding that at this stage "any more words can only damage the speedy resolution of the affair".

The EU also launches an appeal for European citizens detained for 'political reasons' in Venezuelan prisons. In a statement to 26 published late in the evening of Sunday, 4 January, there is a passage also dedicated to Trentini. "The consular authorities of the EU countries work," the joint statement states, "in close coordination for the protection of European citizens, including those who are illegally detained in Venezuela".

Meanwhile, the 46-year-old's family awaits developments, hoping for a sudden acceleration. Armanda and her husband Ezio are experiencing with anxiety and anguish what is happening in Caracas in these hours. In the past few days they have received a telephone call from the president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, Matteo Zuppi, who has expressed his closeness and solidarity with the cooperator's parents, also reiterating the Church's commitment to trying to unblock the situation. The intervention of Vatican diplomacy could represent a further element of 'pressure' on the Venezuelan authorities.