Venezuela released seven imprisoned Americans in exchange for the release of two relatives of President Nicolas Maduro who have been jailed in the United States for years on drug charges.
Five oil executives, including members of the Citgo 6, and two others make up the hostages included in the deal, which was reported by the Associated Press on Saturday afternoon.
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“After extraordinary efforts and perseverance across the State Department and wider U.S. government for many months, these wrongfully detained Americans and legal permanent residents are free and will soon be reunited with their loved ones,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
Jorge Toledo, Tomeu Vadell, Jose Luis Zambrano, Alirio Zambrano, and Jose Pereira are the Citgo oil executives who have been held since 2017. Matthew Heath, a former U.S. Marine corporal from Tennessee, and Osman Khan were the other two Americans freed in the swap.
“I am very pleased, very gratified to get to share with you that all seven of the Americans deemed wrongfully detained in Venezuela are currently on their way home to their families in the United States,” a senior administration official told reporters, adding that President Joe Biden spoke with all of the families to inform them of their loved ones’ impending return.
“The Bring Our Families [Home] Campaign enthusiastically welcomes today’s prisoner exchange with Venezuela which will bring 7 deserving Americans home after a long and difficult captivity,” Jon Franks, a spokesman for the Bring Our Families Home Campaign, said in a statement. “We applaud President Biden for having the courage to make this deal and encourage him and the Administration to continue building upon the momentum that begun with Trevor Reed’s release.“
The U.S., in return, freed Franqui Flores and his cousin Efrain Campo, the nephews of Maduro’s wife, were granted clemency by President Joe Biden, and then released. They were arrested in Haiti in a Drug Enforcement Agency sting in 2015 and convicted the following year.
The Biden administration was able to secure the release of seven American hostages, the most they’ve able to secure in one deal since coming into power, after U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens traveled to Caracas to negotiate for their freedom in June.
Earlier this month, the U.S. negotiated the return of Mark Frerichs, who had been held by the Taliban for nearly two years. The U.S. and Russia agreed to swap retired U.S. Marine Trevor Reed for U.S.-convicted Russian drug trafficker Konstantin Yaroshenko last spring.
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The administration has publicly revealed they offered a “substantial proposal” to Russia for the return of WNBA superstar Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, another American whom the administration considers wrongfully detained in Russia, though there are no indications a deal for their return is imminent. The senior administration official declined to provide an update on the case during Saturday’s briefing.
Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General, announced on Saturday that Iran permitted U.S. citizen Baquer Namazi, who has been detained for six years, to leave the country for medical treatment while his son, Siamak, has also been released from detention.
