On June 11, 2016, 24-year-old Utah native Josh Holt set out to Venezuela to get married. He was happily in love and anxiously anticipating his wedding and the opportunity to bring his new bride and her two children back to the United States. Little did Holt know that his romantic departure would push himself and his family headfirst into the horrors of a potential set-up, possible charges of terrorism and espionage, and ongoing imprisonment in one of the most dangerous, corrupt and politically and socially unrested countries in South America.
To those outside looking in, it appears obvious that the grounds for Holt’s investigation are bogus – that military-grade rifles and a hand-grenade were unlawfully planted in his and his wife Thamara Caleno’s apartment by corrupt Venezuelan security forces simply because “he’s a gringo” who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, who doesn’t speak perfect Spanish, and whose light skin and blonde hair set him apart in a country with a dramatically dysfunctional economy and a rampant scarcity of basic necessities. Holt is one of 12 U.S. citizens currently held in custody.
While Holt was warned of some possible dangers that awaited him in Venezuela, he traveled to the failed socialist state anyway. Before current Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro took office, there was socialist president Hugo Chavez who single-handedly flipped Venezuela on its head when he headed the “Bolivarian revolution,” and “expropriated land and industries and replaced judges, officers and executives,” according to Ethan Bronner and Andrew Rosati of Business Week. Chavez claimed that his tactics would put an end to widespread suffering and inequality. Under his control, armed soldiers would do things like seize farmland without consent, saying that it was the farmers’ contributions to the state and the revolution. The land, however, was never put back to use. Since then, kidnapping has increased dramatically, the rich don’t associate with those of the “dangerous” common society, medical facilities are overrun, and critical supplies are running low. When Chavez passed away in 2013, Maduro, his anointed successor, took over, dealing unsuccessfully with plunging oil prices (an industry controlled in Venezuela by the state under socialist reform), and vast public ridicule and lack of faith. He has grown the military, and most highly ranked personnel are heavily involved in illegal drug trafficking. Additionally, most government funding goes towards paying debts overseas, inflation has reached triple digits, and Maduro isn’t set to face re-election until 2018.
Venezuela has some of the most important natural resources in the world, yet it’s still struggling to feed its people. But the government won’t point blame where it’s due: at itself and its failed attempt at socialist reform. Instead it looks at other, wealthier countries and screams “exploitation,” which is a cop out, as the last imperial power left the area a couple hundred years ago. The truth is that Venezuela and other South American, Central American and African countries that have tried to undergo socialist reform are corrupt. They have little respect for the law and are ruled by the iron fists of dictators. And if a country really does have a chance at success with socialist practices, it isn’t in the hands of people like Chavez, Maduro or the many officers they’ve employed to institute further selfish corruption.
As of now, Holt and his wife are still imprisoned in this Venezuelan hell. They were scheduled to undergo a hearing on Sept. 15 that would determine whether they’d be set free or tried for their “crimes,” but it was postponed for three weeks. Laurie and Jason, Holts’ parents, have exhausted their GoFundMe reserve, and are struggling to pay their Venezuelan lawyer while also worrying for Holt’s health in prison, as he is experiencing internal bleeding, pneumonia-like symptoms, and no proper medical treatment.