Navy sailor who was jailed in Venezuela took stage at GOP convention, in unusual military presence at political event
Washington — An active-duty Navy sailor who spent nearly a year imprisoned in Venezuela before being freed in a prisoner exchange negotiated by the Trump administration appeared on stage at the Republican National Committee's midterm convention on Thursday.
His appearance at the event, holding a sign before the partisan crowd, raises questions about the military's consistency in enforcing restrictions intended to keep active-duty troops out of politics.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Wilbert Joseph Castañeda, who remained on active duty as of Friday, did not deliver remarks and did not wear his military uniform, instead opting for a black suit and a red tie as he walked on stage with several other individuals. Castañeda held a sign showing how many days he was held in Venezuela.
"Please welcome brave Americans who were taken hostage during the Biden administration and freed last year by President Trump," the announcer said.
Defense Department rules prohibit active-duty service members from participating in partisan political rallies and conventions, regardless of whether or not they are in uniform, but they may attend as spectators, if they are not in uniform. Service members who violate the policy can be charged under military articles for failing to obey an order or regulation.
The circumstances surrounding Castañeda's appearance, and whether Navy officials knew about it beforehand or approved his participation, were not immediately clear. Contacted for comment by CBS News on Thursday evening, neither Castañeda nor the Pentagon responded prior to publication.
A U.S. Navy special warfare official confirmed to CBS News on Friday that Castañeda is "an active-duty Sailor but is no longer a Navy SEAL."
CBS News first reported two years ago that Castañeda was no longer authorized to wear the Trident, the symbolic warfare device of a qualified SEAL. A U.S. official said his trident was pulled due to poor performance.
The military's statement from Wednesday appears to indicate Castañeda at some point received a reduction in rank from petty officer first class to petty officer second class.
The Republican National Committee's gathering left little ambiguity about its partisan character. The party organized the two-day convention in Dallas to rally voters and candidates ahead of the November midterm elections, with President Trump and other GOP leaders promoting the party's record and electoral message.
Defense Department Directive 1344.10, which governs political activities by members of the Armed Forces, states that active-duty troops may hold political opinions, vote and participate in certain other forms of political activity. They may attend partisan political rallies, meetings and conventions as spectators if they're not in uniform and when their presence cannot reasonably be interpreted as an official military endorsement.
"When it comes to partisan political conventions, the Defense Department draws a line in the sand between 'spectator' and 'participant,'" Cody Harnish, a former Army Judge Advocate General officer and now a private defense attorney for U.S. service members, told CBS News.
"If he had been sitting in the audience, his attendance would have been fine. The moment he stepped on stage as part of the production, he stopped being a spectator," said Harnish.
Castañeda's appearance at the convention adds another unusual chapter to a military career that had already attracted national attention.
Castañeda enlisted in the Navy in April 2007, undergoing the grueling process to become a Navy SEAL, according to his service record, which the Navy provided CBS News. Between 2009 and 2022, he served in naval special warfare units on both coasts of the United States, earning three Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals and four Sea Service Deployment Ribbons.
A U.S. official told CBS News and other news outlets in 2024 that Castañeda was not on approved leave by the U.S. military or on official travel to Venezuela when he was detained.
In August 2024, Casteñeda was arrested in his Caracas hotel room while he was in Venezuela visiting a friend, according to a 2025 press release issued by his advocates. Venezuelan officials initially claimed he was involved in a coup, but later backed away from the accusation because "there was no supporting evidence," the release said.
Last year, Castañeda was among 10 Americans freed from Venezuela in exchange for El Salvador returning 252 Venezuelans who were deported from the U.S. to a notorious Salvadoran prison, according to previous reporting by CBS News.
Upon his release, Castañeda's family in a statement called him "an innocent man who was used as a political pawn by the Maduro regime." They said he had suffered several traumatic brain injuries during his 18 years in the Navy that "impaired his judgment and risk mitigation" and "led him to make a bad decision to travel to Venezuela." Last year, his family told Task & Purpose that Castañeda was being evaluated for his traumatic brain injuries. He was also evaluated for the physical and psychological trauma he endured while in captivity.
At the same time, the military has been pursuing other service members over conduct that while different, also involves the boundary between military service and partisan political activity.
Air Force Maj. Jason Watson — who vocally criticized Mr. Trump — is facing multiple charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. He's being charged with failing to obey an order or regulation, under the same article that would punish a service member for participating in a partisan political rally or convention.
Watson was arrested twice. In one incident, he called for Mr. Trump's impeachment while in uniform on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, CBS News previously reported. An exact date for Watson's court-martial has not been set.
Some have compared Watson's case to that of Stuart Scheller, a former Marine lieutenant colonel who went viral during the Biden administration for videos criticizing senior leadership over the Afghanistan withdrawal while wearing his uniform.
Scheller, who was represented by lawyer Tim Parlatore, pleaded guilty to all charges against him in a special court-martial in 2021, including Article 92. Now, he serves as deputy chief of staff for personnel and readiness in the Defense Department — while Parlatore, who was Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's attorney, is a senior adviser to the defense secretary.
Both courts and the U.S. military have historically reinforced the idea of maintaining a dividing line between America's armed forces and partisan political campaigns of any stripe.
"The regulation does not care whether the partisan convention is for the party currently in power," said Harnish. "It cuts both ways to preserve the apolitical nature of our military and to uphold the nation's trust in those who serve."
