*A US citizen who participated in the Protection Collective of the Venezuelan Embassy was arrested, registered and interrogated for the second time by US government agents. UU. about his political beliefs and his participation in the antiwar movement.* Upon returning from a Christmas visit to his family in Nicaragua, 31-year-old U.S. citizen Sergio Lazo Torrez was arrested by Customs and Borders Patrol (CBP) officers at the Fort Lauderdale International Airport on January 20, and then questioned by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) who asked him about his participation in the US anti-war movement. Torrez participated in the Collective of Protection of the Embassy of Venezuela, a group of activists and journalists formed in April 2019 to defend the Venezuelan embassy in Washington, DC against an attempt to take control by the coup administration and backed by Juan Guaidó Trump. As The Grayzone reported , Torrez was previously arrested by CBP at Dulles International Airport on August 2 after returning from a solidarity trip to Venezuela with other members of the collective, including this reporter. There, he was interrogated for several hours about his activities in Caracas and was forced to hand over his cell phone for an inspection. Torrez described the interrogation of January 20 as longer and more intrusive than the previous one. "They made me feel helpless because you can't defend yourself and they can do whatever they want," he told The Grayzone. "Although I am a citizen of the United States, they told me that every time I return to the country, I will be forced to go through the same thing." https://i2.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/FullSizeRender.jpeg?w=485&ssl=1 * Sergio Lazo Torrez, a 31-year-old U.S. citizen, has been questioned twice by U.S. officials about his political beliefs and anti-war activism .* As soon as Torrez arrived at the customs post in Fort Lauderdale, he was taken aside and escorted to a windowless room. Two DHS officers in civilian clothes entered and proceeded to question him. Immediately, they investigated their connections with the antiwar movement in the US. UU., Focusing on the organizations Code Pink and International Answer, and demanding names of friends in both groups. Code Pink and Answer helped organize the defense of the Venezuelan embassy in Washington last year, and participated in the August solidarity trip that culminated in a meeting with the elected president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro. According to Torrez, DHS agents demanded to know who paid for the trip to Venezuela, and what was discussed at the Sao Paulo Forum, where the Embassy Protection Collective participated. The Sao Paulo Forum is an annual meeting of left-wing political forces in Latin America established by the Workers Party of former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva. Right-wing politicians such as Senator Marco Rubio have described the forum in a conspiratorial light, presenting it as a route for Cuban communist infiltration into the continent. Then, DHS agents asked if any of the people with whom Torrez traveled had given money or gifts to Venezuelan officials. Torrez said no. Venezuela is currently the target of a draconian regime of US sanctions. UU. which bans virtually all commercial transactions between U.S. citizens and the country's government. At that point, Torrez said he asked what he did wrong, protesting that he had already been asked similar questions during his interrogation last August. The officer insisted that he was carrying out the type of routine security check that his agency employs to identify Americans who travel to Turkey and return with bags full of ISIS propaganda. Torrez explained that he was in Nicaragua simply to celebrate Christmas and the new year with his family. Then he asked the agent: “Do I look like a terrorist? The majority of people who commit terrorist acts in the United States are white men who carry out mass shootings. ” DHS agents confiscated Torrez's phone and began checking his photos. They found one of a Nicaraguan man wearing a shirt that said: "Fuck Trump." This led them to ask Torrez, a naturalized American citizen, about his opinion about Trump and the US government. UU. Torrez declined to comment. After almost four hours of interrogation and confinement, Torrez was released. Upon leaving, DHS officers handed him a card that directed him to a direct phone line for travelers undergoing frequent secondary inspections. He was told that he can expect to be interrogated every time he returns to the US. UU. of a trip abroad. "It is simply ridiculous to be harassed for having a different political opinion and not agreeing with the international politics of this country or how this country believes that it can control politics in Latin America and decide politics wherever it wishes," said Torrez. "They think this harassment is a way of preventing us from doing our activism, but it only gives us more energy to move forward," he continued. "It's just adrenaline for us." Currently, four members of the Embassy Protection Collective are being tried for entering without authorization and interfering with the functions of the US Department of State. UU. Kevin Zeese, Margaret Flowers, Adrienne Pine and David Paul face federal charges punishable by up to one year in prison, a fine of $ 100,000 each and, if convicted, restitution to the government for police time and damages. https://thegrayzone.com/2020/01/29/ciudadano-estadounidense-detenido-interrogado-agentes-dhs/