Six Americans who have been detained in Venezuela in recent months have been released by the Government of President Nicolás Maduro after he met on Friday with Trump’s official The task of persuading an authoritarian leader to return the deported migrants who committed crimes in the United States.
President Trump and his special mission envoy Richard Grenell announced the release of six men on social media. A visit to Grenell came as a shock to many Venezuelans who hoped that Mr Trump would continue the “maximum pressure” campaign, which he chased against Madur during his first term.
According to the White House, the Grenell time in Venezuela was focused on the efforts of Mr. Trump to deport Venezuelana back to their home country, which is not currently accepted by the detained Americans.
“We are on wheels and headed home with these 6 American citizens,” Grenell posted on x together with a photo showing him and men on the plane. “They just talked to @realdonalddrdrump and couldn’t stop thanking him.”
Venezuela the Presidential Office, through AP -Aa
A meeting in Venezuela’s capital was held less than a month after Maduro swore to a third six -year term, despite his credible evidence that he had lost last year’s elections. The US government, together with several other Western peoples, does not recognize Madur’s claim of victory and instead indicates the sum of the leaves collected by the opposition coalition showing that his candidate, Edmund González, won more than two on one margin.
Venezuela’s state television broadcast the shots of Grenell’s Madura who spoke at the Miraflores Palace and said that the US government had requested a meeting.
Signing the executive order at the oval office on Friday, Mr. Trump asked if Grenell was filmed with a meeting with Maduru legitimacy gave the administration that Trump’s White House officially admitted.
“No. We want to do something with Venezuel. I was a very big opponent of Venezuela and Maduro,” Trump replied. “They treated us not so well, but what, more importantly, according to the Venezuelan people, very bad.”
Mr. Trump added that Grenell “meets many different people, but we are for people from Venezuela.”
Some Republicans criticized the visit.
“This is a terrible time,” said Elliott Abrams, who served as a special envoy of Venezuela and Iran during the first Trump administration. “Meeting with Madur will use him to legitimize his reign and show that Americans recognize him as a president. If the purpose is to provide a difficult message about migration issues, the president could do so. Send someone to Caracas.”
The dispute over the results of the election caused protests throughout the country. More than 2,200 people were arrested during and after demonstrations.
Among the detained are as many as 10 Americans who have connected the government with alleged parcels to destabilize the country. Neither the White House nor the Madurov government immediately announced the names of the six who were liberated on Friday.
A non -profit group that advocated the release of detainees said that David Estrela, 62 years old, who was last heard in September, among those on the return of US Venecuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello accused Estrela of being part of the alleged conspiracy for the assassination of Maduro .
Trump’s administration has taken many actions to make promises of illegal immigration and perform the biggest effort of mass deportations in the US history.
These measures include recall at the beginning of this week the decision on the Administration of Biden, which would protect approximately 600,000 people from Venezuela from the deportation, which would lead to the risk of removal from the country in about two months.
Karolina Leavitt’s White House Secretary told reporters on Friday that Mr Trump had directed Grenell to “identify the place and ensure that flights to” carry Venezuelana, including members of the criminal organization of the moment of de Aragua, “land in Venezuela”. She said Mr. Trump also ordered Grenell to “ensure that all US detainees in Venezuela are returning home.”
More than 7.7 million Venezuelans have left their native land since 2013, when his economy dismissed and Maduro first assumed his duty. Most settled in Latin America and Caribbean, but after pandemies migrants are increasingly setting their sights on the USA
Venezuelan is expected to continue to push people to emigrate by the desire for better living conditions and rejection of Madur.
On the eve of the presidential election last year, the National Survey of the Research Company based in Venezuela Delphos showed about a quarter of a population that considering emigration if Maduro was re -elected.
Grenell had previously addressed Madura on behalf of Mr. Trump to ensure the release of closed Americans just to return home with empty -handed.
2020 traveled with Eric Prince, the founder of the controversial security company Blackwater, at Mexico City at a secret meeting with top assistant Madura. Talks about Backhannel are focused on Madur’s offer to replace eight Americans and then closed in Venezuela for businessmen Alex Saab, a close ally president who has been charged with money laundering in the United States, Associate Press reported.
No jobs were achieved, and Grenell’s request for Maduro departed by the envoy of Venezuela. Grenell has always denied to negotiate soil replacement.
Later, in December 2023, the Bidana Administration exchanged Saab for 10 Americans as part of a policy for the re -involvement of Madur on the eve of the presidential election.
