A Univision news crew was detained in Venezuela after asking embattled President Nicolas Maduro questions he didn’t like during an interview, the network said Monday.
The team of six journalists, headed by veteran anchor Jorge Ramos, were held at the Miraflores Palace in Caracas and their equipment was confiscated, Univision said Monday evening.
The crew was released a short time later but the part of the interview that Maduro didn’t like was confiscated, Univision reported.
The team had traveled to Caracas to interview Maduro for a 2:30 p.m. segment, network spokesman Jose Zamora told CNN. The interview kept being postponed and taping didn’t start until 7 p.m.
“Very shortly into the interview, Maduro didn’t like the line of questioning, and they stopped the interview,” Zamora said.
Ramos called Maduro a “dictator” and “murderer” during the interview, Univision reported.
Univision execs found out what happened because Ramos managed to call them — but “in the middle of the call, they took his phone away,” Zamora said.
The US State Department had demanded the release of the crew immediately.
“.@StateDept has received word the journalist @jorgeramosnews and his team are being held against their will at Miraflores Palace by Nicolas Maduro,” Kimberly Breier, the assistant secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs, wrote on Twitter.
“We insist on their immediate release; the world is watching.”
Maduro’s regime is under increasing pressure from the international community to relinquish power after a disputed election.