After a top Trump administration official reportedly made a rare trip to Venezuela to reach an agreement on deportations, six Americans were freed from detention there on Friday.
Special envoy Richard Grenell released a picture of the guys grinning on a U.S. Air Force jet on X to announce the Americans’ release.
An American official’s visit to the capital, Caracas, where the United States has not maintained an official presence since 2019, was anticipated to send a message to Venezuelan officials that Chevron and other Western oil companies would be permitted to continue operating in Venezuela and that Trump would ease pressure on Nicolás Maduro, the country’s authoritarian leader, to make temporary democratic concessions, according to the people.
The U.S. and other international observers say Maduro lost a July election that he claims to have won to the opposition.
Phoenix resident Greg Werber, who was imprisoned a few months ago after visiting Venezuela with a girlfriend and was publicly accused by the government of being a hacker planning strikes against the nation, is one of the Americans who have been freed.
Nine additional American nationals are still being held in Venezuela, some on espionage and terrorism-related allegations.
It was unclear if a deportation agreement was struck despite the release of the prisoners.
For President Trump, the Caracas conversations represent a change in strategy.
In an attempt to overthrow Maduro, his administration recognized a parallel government and implemented economic sanctions dubbed “maximum pressure” during his first term.
Grenell’s travel unexpectedly makes Venezuela the first Latin American visit by the Trump administration since taking office, and it occurs one day before Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s tour of Central America and the Dominican Republic.
Geoff Ramsey, who monitors Venezuela for the Atlantic Council policy group in Washington, said the visit demonstrates the White House’s willingness to act quickly and defy bipartisan agreement to impose sanctions and international isolation on Maduro’s increasingly autocratic dictatorship.
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