The Venezuelan government released six detained Americans after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro met an adviser for US President Donald Trump in Caracas on Friday.
“We are wheels up and headed home with these 6 American citizens,” Richard Grenell posted on X after he left with the US citizens. “They just spoke to @reaDonaldTrump and they couldn’t stop thanking him.”
Grenell was sent to Caracas in a bid to get Venezuela to accept deportation flights from the US that carried gang members and to secure the release of the prisoners from the US.
The meeting was the most significant encounter between the two hostile governments in years. Venezuela said the two sides talked about the imprisoned US citizens, sanctions and migration.
The trip set up a potential clash with Maduro, whose government has refused to accept deportation flights from the US for about a year.
However, he might also use the visit as an opportunity to push for easing US sanctions that have crippled his economy, including the oil sector.
The last US delegation to visit Caracas was in 2023, led by then-US president Joe Biden’s special envoy for hostage affairs Roger Carstens. He secured a prisoner swap in which Venezuela freed 10 Americans and handed over a defense contractor. The US released a Maduro ally from a US prison.
The Venezuelan Ministry of Information did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Friday’s release.
The majority of the Americans released on Friday had been arrested after last year’s controversial presidential election and were accused by authorities of taking part in an anti-government conspiracy plot and an attempt to kill Maduro and other officials.
Last month, Caracas-based human rights group Foro Penal counted 1,408 political prisoners in the country. Prominent politicians such as Freddy Superlano and Biagio Pilieri, as well as human rights activists Rocio San Miguel and Javier Tarazona, remain in prison.
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