Texan says he entered N. Korea illegally, slams U.S.

A Texan who illegally slipped into North Korea last month held a news conference there Sunday to slam the United States on human rights issues.

Arturo Pierre Martinez, of El Paso, said he entered the country from China but provided few specifics. Martinez, reading from a statement at the People's Palace of Culture in Pyongyang, said he wanted to "reveal some facts about the United States' imperialist influence and dominance, as well as its corrupt and threatening practices, which has proven itself to have little to no regard for human rights or serving the greater good."

Martinez, 29, ripped the United States on a wide range of issues, ranging from prisons privatization to campaign fundraising to the CIA. UFOs also got a shout-out. But human rights were front and center.

"The illegal war carried out against the nation of Iraq serves as a perfect example of how the U.S. government acts like a Mafia enterprise by criminally plundering entire nations of their resources, strategic reserves and economies ... without a code of ethics," he said.

Martinez's news conference, which he said he sought, came two days after Pyongyang bitterly defended itself against a United Nations resolution accusing North Korean leaders of crimes against humanity. That statement came on the heels of a U.S. Senate report detailing the use of torture on terrorism suspects.

"The kingpin of such human rights violation is pointing its finger at other countries over their human rights records, and this is the height of hypocrisy," North Korea said in its statement Friday.

Martinez's mother, Patricia Eugenia Martinez, told CNN her son was bipolar and earlier had made an ill-fated attempt to swim across a river to North Korea. She said he had been sent back to the United States and placed in a California psychiatric hospital.

But when he was released, he went back. North Korea said Martinez arrived there last month. Martinez admitted entering North Korea illegally and expressed gratitude for "having been pardoned from the punishments given to violators of these laws, and for the most generous reception I have received."

It was not clear if Martinez was actually free. He said he was seeking asylum in Venezuela. His mother told CNN she assumed he was free since he held the news conference.

His mother released a statement Sunday saying she was "glad and relieved that my son is safe. I am appreciative to the North Korean authorities for pardoning my son and releasing him. I look forward to spending Christmas with him."

U.S. citizens Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller were released by North Korea last month. Another American, Jeffrey Fowle, was released in October. They were believed to be the last Americans being held there.

Contributing: Associated Press