2026年9月11日 / 美国东部时间下午12:48 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
华盛顿——一名现役海军士兵在特朗普政府谈判达成的换俘行动中获释前，曾在委内瑞拉被关押近一年，他于周四在共和党全国委员会中期选举代表大会的舞台上亮相。
他在这场活动中举着标牌出现在党派集会人群面前，这引发了人们对军方执行旨在阻止现役军人参与政治活动的相关规定是否一致的质疑。
二等兵威尔伯特·约瑟夫·卡斯塔涅达于2026年9月10日在达拉斯举行的共和党中期选举代表大会上登台。图片来源：C-SPAN屏幕截图
截至周五仍处于现役状态的二等兵威尔伯特·约瑟夫·卡斯塔涅达并未发表讲话，也没有身着军装，而是选择身着黑色西装、系着红色领带，与其他数人一同走上舞台。卡斯塔涅达手持一块标牌，上面写着他在委内瑞拉被关押的天数。
“请欢迎那些在拜登政府时期被劫持、并于去年由特朗普总统解救的勇敢美国人，”主持人说道。
2026年9月10日，在达拉斯举行的2026年共和党中期选举代表大会第二天，获释的美国人质们登上舞台。从左数第二位是二等兵威尔伯特·约瑟夫·卡斯塔涅达，他手持写有“351天”的标牌。图片来源：凯文·迪奇 / 盖蒂图片社
美国国防部的规定禁止现役军人参与党派政治集会和代表大会，无论是否身着军装，但他们可以以观众身份出席，且不得身着军装。违反该政策的军人可能会因不服从命令或违反规定而受到军事条款处罚。
卡斯塔涅达此次亮相的具体情况，以及海军官员是否提前知情或批准其参与，目前尚不清楚。哥伦比亚广播公司新闻周四晚间联系卡斯塔涅达和五角大楼置评，但在本文发稿前均未得到回复。
一名美国海军特种作战官员周五向哥伦比亚广播公司新闻证实，卡斯塔涅达“是一名现役水兵，但已不再是海军海豹突击队队员”。
哥伦比亚广播公司新闻两年前首次报道称，卡斯塔涅达已无权佩戴三叉戟徽章——这是合格海豹突击队队员的标志性作战装备。一名美国官员表示，他被收回三叉戟徽章是因为表现不佳。
军方周三发表的声明似乎表明，卡斯塔涅达曾一度从一等兵降职为二等兵。
共和党全国委员会的这场集会毫无掩饰其党派性质。该党在达拉斯举办了为期两天的代表大会，旨在为11月的中期选举动员选民和候选人，特朗普总统和其他共和党领导人借此宣传本党的政绩和竞选主张。
规范武装部队成员政治活动的美国国防部指令1344.10规定，现役军人可以持有政治观点、投票以及参与其他某些形式的政治活动。他们可以以观众身份出席党派政治集会、会议和代表大会，但不得身着军装，且其出席不应被合理解读为军方的官方背书。
“谈到党派政治代表大会，国防部在‘观众’和‘参与者’之间划清了界限，”前陆军军法署军官、现为美军人员私人辩护律师的科迪·哈尼什告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻。
“如果他当时坐在观众席上，他的出席是没问题的。但他作为活动环节的一部分走上舞台的那一刻起，他就不再是观众了，”哈尼什说道。
卡斯塔涅达在代表大会上的亮相，为其原本就已引发全国关注的军旅生涯又增添了不同寻常的一笔。
根据海军向哥伦比亚广播公司新闻提供的服役记录，卡斯塔涅达于2007年4月入伍，历经严苛训练成为一名海军海豹突击队队员。2009年至2022年间，他在美国东西海岸的海军特种作战单位服役，曾获得三枚海军和海军陆战队功勋奖章以及四枚海上服役勋表。
一名美国官员2024年告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻和其他新闻媒体，卡斯塔涅达被扣押时，既未获得美军批准休假，也非因公前往委内瑞拉。
根据其支持者2025年发布的新闻稿，2024年8月，卡斯塔涅达在委内瑞拉加拉加斯的酒店房间内被捕，当时他正在当地探访一名朋友。委内瑞拉官员最初称他参与了一场政变，但后来放弃了这一指控，称“没有佐证证据”，新闻稿称。
据哥伦比亚广播公司新闻此前的报道，去年，卡斯塔涅达是10名从委内瑞拉获释的美国人之一，作为交换，美国将252名从美国递解出境的委内瑞拉人送还萨尔瓦多，这些人被关押在萨尔瓦多一所臭名昭著的监狱中。
获释后，卡斯塔涅达的家人在一份声明中称他是“一名无辜者，被马杜罗政权当作政治棋子”。他们表示，他在海军服役的18年间多次遭受创伤性脑损伤，这“损害了他的判断力和风险规避能力”，并“导致他做出了前往委内瑞拉的错误决定”。去年，他的家人告诉《任务与目标》网站，卡斯塔涅达正在接受创伤性脑损伤评估，同时也在接受被俘期间遭受的身心创伤治疗。
与此同时，军方正在就其他涉及军人身份与党派政治活动界限的不当行为追究其他军人的责任。
空军少校杰森·沃森——曾公开批评特朗普——正面临着依据《统一军事司法法典》提出的多项指控。他被指控不服从命令或违反规定，这一条款同样会处罚参与党派政治集会或代表大会的军人。
沃森曾两次被捕。其中一次事件中，他身着军装在美国国会大厦台阶上呼吁弹劾特朗普，哥伦比亚广播公司新闻此前曾报道过此事。沃森的军事法庭具体开庭日期尚未确定。
一些人将沃森的案件与斯图尔特·谢勒相提并论，后者是前海军陆战队中校，在拜登政府时期因身着军装发布批评高级领导层关于阿富汗撤军的视频而走红网络。
由律师蒂姆·帕拉托雷代理的谢勒于2021年在特别军事法庭上对所有指控表示认罪，其中包括第92条罪名。如今，他在国防部担任人事与战备副参谋长。而曾担任国防部长皮特·赫格西特律师的帕拉托雷，现任国防部长高级顾问。
无论是法院还是美国军方，历来都强调要在美国武装部队与任何党派的政治竞选活动之间划清界限。
“这项规定并不在意党派代表大会是否属于当前执政党举办的，”哈尼什说。“它的目的是双向的，既要维护我们军队的非政治性质，也要维护国家对服役人员的信任。”
埃莉诺·沃森对本文亦有贡献。
Navy sailor who was jailed in Venezuela took stage at GOP convention, in unusual military presence at political event
September 11, 2026 / 12:48 PM EDT / CBS News
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 appears on stage at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, Sept. 10, 2026. C-SPAN screengrab
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.
Former hostages who were freed by the U.S. appear on stage on day 2 of the 2026 GOP midterm convention on Sept. 10, 2026, in Dallas. Petty Officer 2nd Class Wilbert Joseph Castañeda is second from the left, holding a sign that reads “351 days.” Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images
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.”
Eleanor Watson contributed to this report.
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