Daily newspaper El Universal in Venezuela reports that 59-year old diplomatic attache Guillermo Cholele, who was reported missing and kidnapped yesterday, was released by his captors in Charavalle, a district in the populous state of Miranda. According to the newspaper report, the Tico diplomat went to a coffee kiosk to ask for help around 2:00 in the morning.

When local police arrived, Mr. Cholele identified himself as the kidnapped diplomat and showed documents that proved his affiliation with the Embassy of Costa Rica in Venezuela. He was immediately transferred to a firefighter’s station where paramedics performed a medical exam. Mr. Cholele seemed disoriented and presented a head wound that did not require sutures. He mentioned that his disorientation was due to the fact that his head was covered by a hood most of the time he was held hostage.

Mr. Cholele has been transferred to a special investigations unit, and must now give an account of his ordeal to Venezuela’s Anti-Extortion and Kidnapping Unit.

Ambassador Nazareth Avendano received an early-morning phone call from Tareck El Aissami, Venezuelan Minister of Justice and the Interior, telling her of the good news. She was also told that Mr. Cholele would be subject to further medical exams and will be asked to collaborate in police investigations on the matter.

Our Minister of Foreign Affairs, Enrique Castillo, stated that the news brought immediate relief to everyone in Costa Rica. Before the international press corps, Minister Castillo assured that no ransom was paid in the incident. The Minister added that it will be up to Mr. Cholele to remain in Caracas or come back home.

The search for Mr. Cholele was concentrated yesterday in Torre David, a high-rise structure once destined to serve as a corporate tower. Torre David has been taken over by squatters and is now called the highest vertical slum in the world. Venezuelan security forces executed floor-by-floor sweeps while helicopters flew overhead. The search was ordered shortly after a ransom phone call made to Mr. Cholele’s residence was tracked to the tower.

In Venezuela, Mr. Cholele’s kidnapping has many people worried about the growing state of lawlessness in the South American nation. Comments left on the online edition of El Universal expressed deep concern and dismay at the fact that Mr. Cholele is the latest in a string of diplomatic kidnappings. Most of the comments left by readers of El Universal indicated serious doubts about the ability of their security forces to curb the growing wave of crime and violence in that country.