In March 2022, Eyvin Hernandez went on a two week vacation to Colombia. As a tourist, he enjoyed the culture and people of Colombia, stayed in touch with family, and attended to his novel writing class at UCLA. He had travelled in Latin America, a place dear to his heart, many times before this trip.
Just a few days before he was due back to return home to Los Angeles, a friend asked Eyvin to accompany her to Cucuta, Colombia. Cucuta is a city next to the border of Colombia and Venezuela. While in Cucuta, Eyvin & his friend asked around for directions. They were told to walk down a dirt road and over a bridge with other people walking in both directions. There were no signs indicating entry to Venezuela. At some point, a man asked Eyvin to pay a $100 bribe to cross into Venezuela. Eyvin told him that he was an American and that he didn’t want to enter Venezuela. Upon not paying the bribe, Eyvin was approached by heavily-armed men in masks, accused of being an American spy (even though Eyvin is NOT a spy), and kidnapped in a violent manner. The armed men placed black hood over Eyvin’s head and he was taken away in the back of a pickup truck.
Eyvin is currently being held in a maximum security military prison DGCIM in Caracas, Venezuela. Eyvin was unable to speak to his family for nearly the first two months in prison. More recently, he has been able to make phone calls to his loved ones.
The official charges against Eyvin by the Venezuelan government are criminal association and conspiracy. If found guilty, he could face up to 16 years in prison. The hearings for his case have been postponed multiple times in Venezuelan court. After 7 months of waiting for his hearings in Venezuela, the US government finally classified Eyvin as “wrongfully detained” in late October 2022. Due to the current relations between the US & Venezuela, the reality is that Eyvin is trapped as an American political prisoner in Venezuela. Eyvin’s family & friends call on the US & Venezuelan governments to release Eyvin immediately.
To read news about Eyvin Hernandez since he was detained in Venezuela, please go to the In The News page.
To learn about the life of Eyvin Hernandez before he was wrongfully detained in Venezuela, please go to the About Eyvin page.
