The United States has condemned the arrest of an American journalist, Cody Weddle, who was seized by Venezuelan military intelligence in an early morning raid on his Caracas home.

Agents of DGCIM, the Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence, detained Weddle and his Venezuelan assistant Carlos Camacho at around 8am local time on Wednesday, a Venezuelan press union said.

After being held for 12 hours at DGCIM's headquarters, Weddle was taken to Caracas airport for deportation, while Camacho was released.

The arrest further stoked tensions between the government of Nicolas Maduro and the US, which along with more than 50 other countries has recognised National Assembly leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela's legitimate president.

On Wednesday, the US State Department demanded Weddle be immediately released "unharmed", adding that Mr Maduro "prefers to stifle the truth rather than face it".

Weddle, a freelance journalist who has lived in Caracas since 2014, has contributed to The Daily Telegraph, with his last article published on February 20. He has also worked for the Miami Herald, ABC, CBC and South Florida TV station WPLG Local 10, among others.