MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bullrich meets freed gendarme Nahuel Gallo at Senate, questions AFA role in his release

Bullrich also said Gallo learned that two AFA representatives were present when he was picked up, and that they allegedly asked him to say publicly it had been the association

Senator Patricia Bullrich met at her Senate office with Argentine gendarme Nahuel Gallo, who was freed after 448 days in detention in Venezuela, in talks that lasted nearly two hours and focused on his captivity and the process that led to his return. Speaking afterwards, Bullrich said Gallo had “barely told 10% of what he lived through” and indicated the two would meet again.

Reports said the meeting was attended by Senators Bartolomé Abdala, Maximiliano Abad, Agustín Monteverde, Vilma Bedia and Martín Goerling. Local coverage also noted Vice President Victoria Villarruel was not invited and that the gathering was described as private.

After the meeting, Bullrich addressed the role played by Argentina’s Football Association (AFA) in contacts linked to Gallo’s repatriation. “There was an attempt to appropriate it,” she said, arguing that the organization sought to claim public credit for the release. Bullrich added that AFA envoys “could reach” Delcy Rodríguez and said Argentina “always had difficulties,” adding: “Our embassy was destroyed. But Gallo is here—that’s what matters.”

Bullrich also said Gallo learned that two AFA representatives were present when he was picked up, and that they allegedly asked him to say publicly it had been the association. She said he chose not to do so and expressed thanks privately.

Gallo’s release was confirmed days earlier by Argentina’s government, which said he had left Venezuela. Attention is now shifting to other cases: Bullrich said she will meet relatives of Germán Giuliani, described as the last Argentine still detained in Venezuela, while family members say an order for release has already been issued and they expect his case to move forward.