US authorities detain Venezuelan foreign minister

VENEZUELA’S foreign minister has said he was illegally detained for 90 minutes by officials at a New York airport and accused them of treating him abusively by trying to frisk and handcuff him.

US officials called Saturday’s incident regrettable and said they had apologised to Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro. Mr Maduro called that insufficient and said Venezuela would seek a legal challenge through the UN to what he called a “flagrant violation of international law” and his diplomatic immunity.

“We were detained for an hour-and-a-half, threatened by police with being beaten,” Mr Maduro told reporters at Venezuela’s mission to the UN. “We hold the US government responsible.”

A UN diplomat said Mr Maduro’s trip was delayed because he had showed up late without a ticket, prompting extra screening.

US homeland security spokesman Russ Knocke denied that Mr Maduro was mistreated at John F Kennedy International Airport when he was selected for an added security check.

“He began to articulate his frustration with secondary screening right after he went through,” a metal detector, Mr Knocke said.

“We responded with the dignity of Venezuelan revolutionaries... with strength,” Mr Maduro told reporters at Venezuela’s mission to the UN. “It’s a Nazi government, a racist government.”

If this is how US authorities treat a foreign minister, he said, “what won’t they do to Arab people for wearing a turban?”