Italy – Il Fatto Quotidiano, Dec. 25, 2025
The initiative of the Head of State, who urges Armanda to “not lose hope,” marks a break with the taciturn attitude of the current governing majority.
“Italy stands by Alberto. And by you as well.” With his calm tone, no longer in keeping with the times we live in, Head of State Sergio Mattarella confirmed to Armanda Colusso—during a phone call reported by la Repubblica—an undeniable truth: the story of the aid worker from Lido Venice, imprisoned for 404 days in Venezuela’s El Rodeo I prison, has now entered the hearts of Italians, making up for the eerie silence of Palazzo Chigi. But there is more. Mattarella’s initiative, in which he asks Armanda to “not lose hope,” marks a point of rupture with the taciturn stance of the current government majority.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, in Caracas, the mission of Ambassador Alberto López of the International Organization for Human Rights continues. He was received by the Presidency of the Republic of Venezuela and delivered a letter from Armanda addressed to Nicolás Maduro. “My son had arrived in Venezuela only a few days earlier; he wanted to help people with disabilities and was beginning to love your country,” Colusso writes to the Venezuelan president. “My family lives in Venice and Alberto is our only, deeply beloved son,” she continues, “and he is our reason for living.” In the letter, shared with Ilfattoquotidiano.it, the mother asks the leader in Caracas to “grant Alberto his freedom and allow him to return home to those who love him.” “It would be an indescribable joy for us if he were released for Holy Christmas,” she adds.
Negotiations under way. Caracas has also received a communication in which the president of OIRD, Ambassador Gennaro Ruggero, expresses concern over Trentini’s circumstances, calls for “bilateral dialogue” with the Miraflores Palace, and confirms López’s mission, requested by OIRD Ambassador Michela Turco and supported by the International Organization for Human Rights. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (the Farnesina) and the Vatican are aware,” the statement reads.
Asked by ilfatto.it, Ambassador López commented: “We are encountering openness from the Venezuelan authorities. Conversations are ongoing, and we are being treated with attention and professionalism.” He added: “The commitment to Trentini’s freedom is not the work of a single diplomatic actor, but the result of teamwork. Involving everyone.” In the same hours, Ambassador López also held a meeting with the director of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly, Sergio Talisandro. The turning point is undoubtedly the result of a civil, peaceful, and coordinated mobilization that has surpassed 134,000 signatures on Change.org, nearly three hundred days of relay hunger strikes, and several demonstrations, including street protests—all joining Armanda’s constant appeals. “I will go home convinced that you will speak and write about Alberto and that together with me you will loudly demand his release,” she said in mid-November at Palazzo Marino. And so it has been. Many voices took up her appeal: the spotlight has been turned on the aid worker, and institutions have been spurred into action, restoring—through López—a dialogue that had been interrupted for far too long.
