Maria Alexandra Gomez, wife of Argentine Gendarmerie officer Nahuel Gallo, and Virginia Rivero and Vanesa Giuliani, the wife and sister of Argentine lawyer German Giuliani, both men detained in Venezuela, stand outside the Apostolic Nunciature with activists to ask the Vatican to press Venezuelan authorities for the detainees’ release, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, January 23, 2026. REUTERS/Pedro Lazaro Fernandez
BUENOS AIRES, Jan 23 (Reuters) - The families of two Argentines detained in Venezuela on Friday appealed to the Vatican to intervene, urging it to help speed the release of their loved ones as Caracas has begun freeing some detainees.
The wife of Nahuel Agustín Gallo, a national security officer arrested on Dec 8, 2024, and the wife of German Giuliani, a lawyer imprisoned since May 2025, delivered a formal petition to the Catholic Church in Buenos Aires, calling for urgent action by the Holy See.
"There are still many innocent people missing, many who need to be released," said Alexandra Gomez, Gallo's wife. "These piecemeal releases only wear down the families," she added.
Gomez said her husband had been "forcibly disappeared in Venezuela for 411 days."
In a letter seen by Reuters, addressed to Pope Leo and Cardinal Pietro Parolin, relatives appealed to "the humanitarian sensitivity and the permanent commitment of the Holy See to the defense of human dignity, freedom and fundamental rights."
The families also demanded immediate steps to safeguard the physical and psychological well-being of the detainees.
The women were joined by relatives and friends of Venezuelan political prisoners who demonstrated outside with photographs of the detained, national flags and placards reading "They took them alive, we want them back alive" and "Political prisoners are not bargaining chips.
"We were glad they received us," said Virginia Rivero, wife of Giuliani. "But it felt a bit lukewarm. There were things they perhaps didn’t know."
Venezuela's interim authorities have begun releasing political prisoners and other detainees, though many still remain behind bars amid ongoing political tension.
The wave of releases comes as Caracas seeks to ease domestic pressure and signal a possible thaw with Washington following heightened U.S.–Venezuela confrontations.
(Report by Horacio Soria and Lucila Sigal; editing by Cassandra Garrison and Nick Zieminski)
