Jan set out for Venezuela on August 10, 2024 from Paris, where he briefly stopped with a friend to soak up the atmosphere of the Olympics. Then he flew via Lisbon to Caracas. He planned to stay in Venezuela for a month. He stayed in Caracas for perhaps only two days, there was an oppressive atmosphere after the presidential elections (July 28, 2024). Subsequently, he devoted himself exclusively to visiting tourist destinations - mountains, rivers, waterfalls, beaches, etc. He continuously uploaded photo documentation to cloud storage, which the family has at their disposal. He traveled alone, only exceptionally hired a local guide in risky areas. He regularly contacted parents and friends from the trip.

At the end of August, he had health problems, for which he was examined in a hospital in Puerto Ayacucho. He wanted to dedicate the last week of his stay to visiting original Indian communities and the area of the Atabapo and Orinoco rivers. He announced that he would be out of phone signal for several days, and then that he would call. This was on September 5, 2024 at about 9:30 local time (3:30 PM CEST), when the family last communicated with him.

At that time, Venezuelan soldiers arrested him in his room at a guesthouse in San Fernando de Atabapo, where he was staying. For several days there was nothing suspicious about Honza not communicating. But when he did not call on the planned departure day of September 12, 2024, and then did not show up at the meeting place with friends in Zurich on September 14 in the morning, it was clear that there was some big problem. For several hours, the parents were overcome with the most horrible thoughts of what could have happened in the Amazon jungle...

The family and diplomatic services did not know for long months where Jan and other foreigners were located. The Venezuelan side did not communicate, did not respond to any diplomatic notes, appeals and inquiries. The family sent several letters in various ways to President Nicolás Maduro, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez and National Assembly Chairman Joerg Rodriguez. All without response.

Confirmed reports about the location of detention of foreign hostages were provided only by the first released Americans in February 2025. Jan and other foreigners are being held at the Ministry of Interior's Rodeo I prison in Miranda state. They are two per concrete cells measuring 2x5 meters. They could go to the prison yard only from December twice a week for an hour, from May then 5 times a week for an hour. He did not receive any letters that the family sent to Jan through Czech and Venezuelan diplomats. Honza has no information about what is happening outside the prison. After nine months of imprisonment, Jan was allowed a 5-minute phone call with his parents on May 15, 2025. Another 10-minute phone contact with the family was allowed on October 10, 2025, on the eve of his birthday.

Jan Darmovzal studied Sport Management at Masaryk University in Brno, then devoted himself to studying law at the University of London in Singapore. During his studies, he completed an internship at the Singapore law firm Gateway Law Corporation and also collaborated with the Singapore Law Association in the ProBono scheme. He interrupted his studies after a year and earned a living as a swimming coach at Mardsen Swim School in Singapore.

After returning to the Czech Republic, he completed his law studies at UoL remotely. He then worked for the state agency Czech Trade until 2023. Jan has a long-term interest in international relations. He completed a volunteer charity program on the West Bank, where he taught school children English and physical education. Since 2019, he has been a member of the Czech Armed Forces active reserves.

Jan is a passionate traveler and athlete. He often combined his foreign trips with sporting events, especially marathons, long triathlons, aquathlons or high-altitude running. He also worked briefly as a diving instructor in Mozambique, and yachting is also his passion. He used his stays abroad especially for studying foreign languages – he speaks English, Spanish, Italian, German, Arabic, learns Portuguese and Persian. In some countries he taught English briefly.