Jorge Toledo and five other American executives were arrested again Venezuela.
(Photo : Twitter)

The U.S. State Department is calling for the release of six Citgo executives after they were taken back to prison on Wednesday in Venezuela after spending two months on house arrest.

The arrest of the executives is very suspicious as it came after the opposition leader of Venezuela, Juan Guaido, met President Donald Trump, his strongest international ally. The arrest of the Citgo execs happened just hours after the presidents met. 

Elliot Abrams, United States representative for Venezuela, told news reporters on Thursday, "The timing is suspicious, but I can't speculate as to why it happened now." Abrams condemned the arrest of the Citgo six and called the men political prisoners and he is also requesting their release. 

The American executives, or also known as the Citgo 6, are composed of five U.S. citizens and one permanent resident. They have been under house arrest for two months after they were imprisoned for almost two years in Venezuela.

According to relatives, the American executives were taken away on Wednesday by masked and armed security guards. The relatives were told the Citgo 6 will be taken to their medical appointments and will be returned home. However, they were actually taken to a prison that is run by the country's intelligence service, El Helicoide prison.

Carlos Anez, the stepson of one of the detainees, Jorge Toledo, told NBC News that, "There is no court order revoking their house arrest and there is no order for them to be transferred." He added that the family is extremely stressed and worried because Toledo does not have his medication with him.

Meanwhile, Jason Poblete, a lawyer who represents another detainee, said that he is "concerned about recent events in D.C. and how they may impact the safety and security of his client."

Speculations surrounding the arrest of the American executives has become even more suspicious after U.S. officials warned measures against Venezuela that will accelerate and intensify in the coming weeks. Including sanctioning the entities of Russia. 

It can be recalled that Maduro has successfully evaded U.S. oil sanctions with the help of Russia, India, and other countries. Moreover, Russian is also a strong ally of Maduro. 

With this current tension, Abrams reiterated on Thursday that, "as several administration officials have noted, the Russians may soon find that their continued support of Maduro will no longer be cost-free." It was also found that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov went to Venezuela and met with Maduro on Friday.

The American executives who were arrested were Toledo, Vadell, Jose Luis Zambrano, Alirio Zambrano, Gustavo Cárdenas and José Pereira who have deep roots in Texas and Louisiana. They were all initially arrested just before Thanksgiving in 2017. They were in a conference room for a last-minute meeting at the headquarters of the Petroleos de Venezuela, a state-owned oil giant.

Once they were in the conference room, they were all shocked as they were taken away by masked and armed men and accused them of signing off on a deal to refinance Citgo's debts which is very unfavorable to the Venezuelan government and were offering Citgo as collateral. 

In a document obtained by a news outlet, it was found that in February 2017 there was a refinancing negotiation that was approved by the board of PDVSA, however the document was never signed. Meanwhile, the relatives of the arrested persons dispute the alleged corruption charges.

Moreover, it was also found that the men were held captive in the basement of Venezuela's military counterintelligence agency before being placed under house arrest. Relatives of the arrested describe the situation as a human rights violation.

Anez released a statement in the recent arrest and said: "This toys with everyone's emotions. We were happy they were under house arrest. We thought it was a step forward. And now it was taken all away."