![TAKE NO PRISONERS](https://cdn.magzter.com/1450523597/1717493833/articles/ED5phYzU11717505255391/TAKE-NO-PRISONERS.jpg)
At dawn on October 1, 2022,
Osman Khan was roused from his cell inside Venezuela’s notorious subterranean prison known as the House of Dreams.
Khan was a fresh-faced Floridian, all of 24 and barely out of college. Nine months before, he had made the fateful mistake of crossing the border into Venezuela to meet his girlfriend’s family, only to find himself in the clutches of one of the dictatorship’s dreaded security services. For weeks, his interrogators subjected him to torture of all kinds: waterboarding, electric shocks, beatings, stress positions, extreme confinement, and forced injections, which his family says induced grand mal seizures. One of his torturers went by the nickname the Piranha. Khan was incarcerated in a pariah state beset by gangs, rampant corruption, and humanitarian crises—a country that considered his homeland a mortal enemy.
“It was hell,” recalled his sister Jasmin, who, while finishing her master’s at Georgetown, was putting in long hours as Khan’s advocate in Washington. His incarceration had enveloped the close-knit family. “My mom is the strongest person ever,” said Jasmin, “but it definitely broke her. She was telling me, ‘If something happens to me, it’s your job to get your brother out.’ She was thinking of committing suicide.” Khan had already tried to take his own life, but his captors had intervened.
The Venezuelans alleged that Khan was not what he claimed to be: a lovestruck young man who had innocently entered their nation. Instead, they maintained, he was a CIA assassin dispatched to kill President Nicolás Maduro, who in 2013, after the death of his predecessor, Hugo Chávez, had wrested control of the beleaguered oil-rich nation, going on to establish a ruthless far-left dictatorship. As evidence, Khan’s minders produced a Google Map printout of Miraflores, Venezuela’s White House, which they claimed to have found among his possessions.
Denne historien er fra June 2024-utgaven av Vanity Fair US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra June 2024-utgaven av Vanity Fair US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
![SETTING THE STAGE](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12190/1797068/xR7QW6AEP1723636208116/SETTING-THE-STAGE.jpg)
SETTING THE STAGE
Before they conquered Hollywood, George Segal, Peter Falk, Roy Scheider, and Wayne Rogers were some of the finest-though perhaps not the finest-stage actors in New York. WAYNE LAWSON, who knew them when, revisits a golden era that revolutionized American theater
![HOPE AND CHANGE?](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12190/1797068/SudHCZ8AB1723633705589/HOPE-AND-CHANGE.jpg)
HOPE AND CHANGE?
As the threat of another Trump presidency looms, AMERICA TURNS ITS EYES TO THE OBAMAS, who remain two of the most important politicians in the world-whether they like it or not
![The Natural](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12190/1797068/ge2dPFme81723633520767/THE-NATURAL.jpg)
The Natural
Comedy, singing, scandal, attempted murder: Meghann Fahy, the breakout star of The White Lotus and now The Perfect Couple, can do it all
![FULL-COURT PRESS](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12190/1797068/IT716eL3c1723632824312/FULLCOURT-PRESS.jpg)
FULL-COURT PRESS
Microsoft made him one of the richest men alive. Now STEVE BALLMER is chasing one of the few prizes money (alone) can't buy: an NBA championship for his team, the Los Angeles Clippers, whose staggeringly expensive state-of-the-art arena opens this summer
![THE TWISTED LOVE STORY OF JOSE AND LADDY BETTY](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12190/1797068/H6LRKleX81723630265929/THE-TWISTED-LOVE-STORY-OF-JOSE-AND-LADDY-BETTY.jpg)
THE TWISTED LOVE STORY OF JOSE AND LADDY BETTY
A 95-year-old diamond heiress and her much younger genderfluid spouse became social media stars. Was theirs a feelgood romance for the agesor something far darker?
![CONSIDER](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12190/1797068/WrddxBlmz1723628820092/CONSIDER.jpg)
CONSIDER
NO ONE KNOWS CANDIDATE ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.'S PROBLEMATIC HISTORY BETTER THAN HIS FAMILY. JOE HAGAN TALKS TO THAT RELUCTANT INNER CIRCLE ABOUT KENNEDY'S PAST AND THE STAKES FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE
![Paris When It Sizzled](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12190/1797068/u0_BtJlRh1723628582430/PARIS-WHEN-IT-SIZZLED.jpg)
Paris When It Sizzled
IN 1973, FIVE AMERICAN DESIGNERS AND 36 MODELS DESCENDED ON THE CITY OF LIGHT FOR WHAT WOULD BECOME AN ERA-DEFINING FASHION SHOW-AND WITH THEM WAS PHOTOGRAPHER BILL CUNNINGHAM. HERE, AN EXCLUSIVE LOOK AT HIS TREASURE TROVE OF LARGELY UNSEEN PHOTOS, PUBLISHED TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST TIME
![JENNA ORTEGA'S YEAR OF WONDER](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12190/1797068/Bm5G2gY8z1723627347039/JENNA-ORTEGAS-YEAR-OF-WONDER.jpg)
JENNA ORTEGA'S YEAR OF WONDER
THE BREAKOUT STAR OF WEDNESDAY SETTLES INTO FAME AND WITH A BEETLEJUICE SEQUEL ON THE HORIZON GETS READY FOR MORE OF IT
![Playing It STRAIGHT](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12190/1797068/LZ8NxuXly1723627148761/PLAYING-IT-STRAIGHT.jpg)
Playing It STRAIGHT
Dynamic young stars have broken out in queer roles. Should their own sexuality matter?
![Another COUNTRY](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12190/1797068/KoAfUjrwK1723626911894/ANOTHER-COUNTRY.jpg)
Another COUNTRY
Searching for James Baldwin in the South of France