Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Meets with US Envoy to Discuss Release of Americans
Richard Grenell, President Donald Trump’s envoy for special missions, announced on Friday night that he was returning to the US with six Americans who were being held in Venezuela. The meeting with Maduro in Caracas was part of a discussion on the release of Americans being held in the country, with at least nine Americans reported to be detained by Venezuelan officials.
Grenell said that the six men he was bringing back had spoken to Trump and were “thankful” for his efforts. The men were dressed in light-blue Venezuelan prison outfits, and it is unclear what charges they were facing.
Mauricio Claver-Carone, the US special envoy on Latin America, said that the US is demanding the immediate release of American hostages, without any conditions or quid pro quo. Trump has also made it clear that the release is not a negotiation.
The meeting between Maduro and Grenell was also intended to discuss the return of 400 members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, which was dismantled in 2023. The US is demanding that the deportations occur “without conditions” and are “non-negotiable.”
Maduro was sworn in for a third six-year term as Venezuela’s president last month, but the US government does not recognize him as the country’s legitimate head of state. The US believes that Edmundo González, the opposition coalition candidate, won the recent election by more than a two-to-one margin.
Trump has been a vocal opponent of Maduro and Venezuela, saying that the country has treated the US and its people poorly.