U.S. Department of State calls for Holt’s release

Joshua Holt and his wife, Thamy, have now been held in a Venezuelan jail for nearly a year and a half.

This week, the U.S. Department of State once again calling for the Venezuelan government to release the Holts.

In a statement made during a press briefing in Washington, D.C. this week, Heather Nauert, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department gave an update on Holt’s case.

In part, she said, “The U.S. calls on the government of Venezuela to release on humanitarian grounds U.S. citizen Josh Holt, who has bee detained in Venezuela since June 30th 2016 – almost a year and a half now,” Nauert said. “Throughout the 17 months in detention so far without charges, we’ve raised our concerns about Mr. Holt’s case, his condition and treatment at every opportunity. We remain extremely concerned about his health and his well-being.”

Nauert continued by stating that Josh Holt’s health has only worsened because of both in getting him a court hearing, and because of him being denied medical treatment on multiple occassions.

We reached out to Josh Holt’s mother, Laurie, who said she cannot comment on Josh’s case at this time to protect the procedure. But she did share the Dept. of State’s video on Facebook, writing, “As a parent, I can’t even explain how this makes me feel. Yes, that is my son….We are doing everything possible to get Josh and Thamy home…..We are fighters, our family will not give up.”

Josh and Thamy Holt were arrested in June 2016 and accused of being U.S. spies.