The New York Times recently reported that two separate negotiations between the Trump administration and Venezuela’s dictatorship have fallen apart. They were aimed at securing the release of dozens of U.S. citizens and residents being held in prison. If the information is true, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was trying to obtain their release in exchange for dozens of Venezuelans who were deported from the United States in March and are currently in a maximum security prison in El Salvador.
Meanwhile, an envoy of President Donald Trump, Richard Grenell, who has represented the U.S. government in previous negotiations with the regime of Nicolas Maduro, is reported to have offered an easing of oil sanctions, in particular, letting Chevron operate oilfields in Venezuela once again, with the same aim of freeing the Americans.
