Venezuelan YouTuber released after 'terrorism arrest'
By Vanessa Buschschlüter
A Venezuelan YouTuber who uploads travel videos has been released after being held for 32 hours following his arrest at Caracas airport on Sunday.
Venezuela’s Attorney-General Tarek Saab said US-based YouTuber Oscar Alejandro Pérez had been arrested over a video he uploaded last year.
Mr Saab alleges that in the video, the influencer urges blowing up a financial building in Caracas.
After his release, Mr Pérez said he would never disturb the public order.
The YouTuber, who has close to two million followers, said the sentence Mr Saab had referred to had been taken out of context.
In the video, he points to a high-rise building housing and says: “That lit-up building behind us is Credicard Tower.
“Curious detail: all the servers for Venezuelan credit and debit cards are in there. If a bomb were to be thrown at that building, the whole national banking system would collapse.”
In a message uploaded after he was freed, Mr Pérez said he was sorry if the clip had been misconstrued.
