UPDATED: A fellow Substack writer has been detained in Venezuela

We need your help to bring him home

UPDATE: As of January 14th, 2026, James has been released from detainment. We want to thank everyone who reached out to elected officials and raised awareness about this issue. To support James work, you can subscribe to his Substack Luckey Publications , but we ask that you respect his privacy as he recovers and reacclimates to being home.

The recent events between the United States and Venezuela have risen to an all time high, dominating the news cycle for the past few days. In the midst of this, a fellow writer has been wrongfully detained in Venezuela for nearly a month, along with four other Americans. It is suspected that they may be used as leverage in discussions over the U.S. military presence in the region.

On December 12th, 2025, James Luckey-Lange, who publishes Luckey Publications and has also contributed to Unlocked – a Substack highlighting the work of BIPOC writers, was on his way home after traveling across South America for nearly two years following the death of his mother, when he was wrongfully detained by Venezuelan authorities. At the time of writing this, James’ family has received minimal information about where he is being held and the conditions of his confinement. We know that there are four other Americans who are currently being detained with him. The recent capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has put the safety of James and the four other detainees at an increased risk.

This moment calls for us to be in community with one another, to raise awareness to our elected officials, and to pull together our resources and connections to make sure James and the other detainees are safe and do not get treated harmfully.

Please take a moment to complete the calls to action below and share them with your friends, family, and communities until we can get James home.

To learn more about James, feel free to read more of his story in this article from the New York Times.

Thank you so much in advance for your time, effort, and support in bringing James home.