
Oil tycoon Wilmer Ruperti showed up for a meeting with Venezuela’s intelligence agency last Thursday. A week later, he’s still in custody, one of his lawyers told Semafor.
“We’ve reached out to everybody trying to get proof of life or some support,” Winston & Strawn’s Cari Stinebower said, adding that officials still haven’t conveyed “how he’s being treated or why he’s being detained.”
Ruperti, who arrived at the meeting with a security detail, is a Venezuelan Italian shipping magnate who trades in petroleum coke. His detainment followed interim President Delcy Rodríguez’s decision to elevate the agency’s longtime chief to defense minister.
“The message is that Venezuela is open for business — but detaining businessmen for days on end without any due process or access to counsel is more old regime,” Stinebower said. “This is not law and order and not conducive of a welcoming business environment.”
The State Department and Energy Department did not respond to requests for comment.
latest_posts
- 1
Different Film Classification: What's Your Go-To for Amusement - 2
Investigating Design and Individual Style: Track down Your Remarkable Look - 3
Understanding the Rudiments of Tree Administrations - 4
Rick Steves Recommends This German Town's Castle Hotel With Rhine River Views - 5
Climbing Mount Everest: An Individual Victory
Dave Coulier reveals he has tongue cancer, his 2nd diagnosis in a year, after beating non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Geminid meteors streak under green sky | Space photo of the day for Dec. 19, 2025
Arctic sea ice hits lowest winter level as unprecedented heat hits smashes records all over Earth
Fundamental Venture The board Apparatuses for Remote Groups
Bring tissues and skip the mascara: The movie that's making theater-goers sob uncontrollaby
We may be witnessing the messy death of a star in real time
Scientists have found an alarming environmental impact of vast data centers
The gay hockey show no one saw coming — and everyone is suddenly obsessed with
I binged all 24 Hallmark Christmas movies in less than 30 days. I emerged a changed man.












