American Missionaries Are Detained in Venezuela

CARACAS, Venezuela — Amid growing tensions between the United States and Venezuela, the authorities here detained four American missionaries this week and continued to hold them in custody on Friday, according to family members and news media reports.

The detentions come as President Nicolás Maduro, a leftist, has been stepping up anti-American speech and accusing Washington of backing a coup plot that his government disrupted. Last week the mayor of Caracas, Antonio Ledezma, was arrested and charged with taking part in the alleged conspiracy, a charge that his lawyer denies.

The missionaries were affiliated with the Bethel Evangelical Free Church in Devils Lake, N.D., which has been sending missionaries for several years to work with a church in an area near the Caribbean coast west of Caracas, the capital.

Reached by telephone in North Dakota, Yvette Paulson, the wife of one of the detained missionaries, Kermit Paulson, said that he was healthy and that she was waiting for further information about his situation.

According to news reports, the missionaries were detained on Wednesday and taken to a military base in the city of Maracay.

“They are missionaries who came to the country to participate in a medical assistance campaign,” Abdy Pereira, the president of the Association of Free Evangelical Churches of Venezuela, told Reuters, adding that they were questioned by military officials.

He said the group had spent several days doing medical examinations and handing out basic medicine, including ibuprofen and acetaminophen, which have been in scarce supply as the country struggles with shortages and a deepening economic crisis.

Mario Lopez, a Venezuelan pastor who was detained with the Americans, was reached by cellphone on Friday but said that he was unable to talk at length. “I am being restricted and cannot give information,” he said.

On Thursday morning Ms. Paulson posted a message on the family’s Facebook page, Kids 4 the Kingdom Ministry, saying: “Please pray for Kermit and the team he went with to Venezuela. They have been taken by authorities and were being held overnight at a motel. They meet this morning with a general to find out what is going to happen.”

On Friday she posted another message: “Many of you may be wondering ‘Have you heard anything?’ Answer is nothing other than they are waiting.”

A church calendar posted online indicated that the missionaries left for Venezuela on Feb. 19 and were to return on March 3.

The Paulsons, who have a daughter, had apparently feared there might be trouble in Venezuela and canceled plans to travel here as a family. “This year we were making plans to do ministry in Venezuela, however, with the issues going on and after a conversation with a missionary director we feel that this is not the right time to go long term as a family,” they wrote in a February church newsletter.

In January, Ms. Paulson posted on Facebook: “Kermit and I just finished our first Spanish lesson. It was very exciting and fun.” She added, “It is our plan to be prepared for all things that the Lord may have in store for us in the future.”

An Information Ministry spokesman said that he did not have information about the case.

The United States Embassy said that it was unable to comment because of privacy restrictions.