The Americans were exchanged for two nephews of President Maduro’s wife, who were arrested in 2015.
Venezuela released seven Americans on Saturday in exchange for two Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro of relatives who were imprisoned in the United States on drug charges, U.S. officials said. The news agency reports about it Reuters.
Among the freed Americans were five executives of the Citgo Petroleum oil company who had been imprisoned for years. In addition, Venezuela released a US Marine veteran and another US citizen.
The Americans were exchanged for two nephews of President Maduro’s wife, who were arrested in 2015.
of the United States president Joe Biden said in a statement that the “wrongfully detained” Americans would soon be reunited with their families.
The prisoner swap, which a US official said took place at an airport in an unspecified third country, came after months of secret talks.
Washington is under ever-increasing pressure to do more for dozens of American citizens detained abroad. Most of the Biden administration is focused on the WNBA star by Brittney Griner and to the arrests of another American in Russia.
Maduro’s government said in a statement that as a result of negotiations that began in March, two young Venezuelans “unjustly” detained in the United States were released.
The freed Americans were healthy and “glad to be on their way home,” a Biden administration official told reporters.
Biden accepted the switch weeks ago, characterizing the decision as “hard and painful”. According to Biden, the release of the two Venezuelans was necessary to secure the freedom of American citizens. US officials have said in the past that Maduro wanted to use the prisoners as a bargaining chip.
According to the administration, the release of Maduro’s relatives has not changed US policy towards Venezuela. The Biden administration has only softened the former president a bit Donald Trump’s early sanctions against Venezuela and said it would consider more significant action if Maduro returns to talks with Venezuela’s opposition and moves toward free elections.
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