An Italian aid worker detained in Venezuela since November has had no contact with officials or family for two months, prompting his family to appeal to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for intervention.

Alberto Trentini, 45, who was working with NGO Humanity and Inclusion to provide humanitarian assistance to disabled people, was arrested without charges at a checkpoint on November 15 whilst travelling from Caracas to Guasdalito.

Sources claim Trentini was transferred to a detention facility by the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) in Caracas days after his arrest. He remains imprisoned without formal charges, raising concerns about his health conditions as he requires medication for high blood pressure and asthma.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani summoned Venezuela's charge d'affaires to protest the lack of information about Trentini's detention. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has urged Venezuelan authorities to provide information, citing "seriousness and urgency" of the situation.

The Venice native, who holds a degree from Ca' Foscari University, has two decades of experience in humanitarian work across South America, Ethiopia, Nepal, Greece, and Lebanon. In the weeks leading up to his arrest, Trentini had complained about increased hostility at Venezuelan airports and expressed intentions to resign to colleagues.

The case emerges amid deteriorating relations between Western nations and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in the wake of his disputed inauguration on January 10. Venezuela recently restricted the movement of diplomats from Italy, France, and the Netherlands, requiring written authorisation for travel beyond 40 kilometres from central Caracas. The government also reduced diplomatic staff at these embassies, citing their "hostile" stance towards Maduro's third presidential term.

Prior to the incumbent’s swearing-in ceremony, the Venezuelan regime last week arrested seven foreign nationals, including two US citizens. Maduro said the group – which allegedly included two Colombians described as "hitmen," a “senior FBI agent” and three veterans of the war in Ukraine – were captured while plotting unspecified acts of terrorism. There are no indications as of today that Trentini, who had arrived in Venezuela last October for his humanitarian mission, is being held on similar charges.

The Trentini family's appeal references a recent successful diplomatic intervention by Meloni's government in securing the release of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala from detention in Iran.