Mother asks Trump to help free son jailed in Venezuela

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The mother of a Utah man jailed in Venezuela for the last seven months is issuing another tearful plea for help, this time to President Donald Trump.
Laurie Holt’s says in her new YouTube video that her son Joshua Holt did nothing wrong and is being used as “political pawn” by Venezuela’s government.
Joshua Holt and his Venezuelan wife were arrested on June 30 on weapons charges. Venezuelan officials allege he was stockpiling weapons and have suggested his case is linked to other unspecified attempts by the U.S. government to undermine President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist rule.
The new video comes a week after U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch mentioned Holt’s case in a meeting last week with secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson.
U.S. State Department officials say they are following the case closely.