President Trump’s Envoy for Special Missions, Richard Grenell, has traveled to Venezuela to deliver a personal message to socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro about accepting violent criminals deported from the United States.
Grenell will demand that Venezuela take back all Venezuelan criminals and Tren de Aragua gang members that have been “exported” to the United States, without conditions, and release American hostages being held in the country, according to US Special Envoy to Latin America, Mauricio Claver-Carone.
The trip focuses on two specific issues: the return of Venezuelan criminals and gangs to their country, without conditions, and the immediate release of American hostages. Claver-Carone emphasized that this is not a quid pro quo, but rather a demand made by President Trump himself.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Grenell had arrived in Venezuela on orders from the President.
The US does not recognize Maduro as the legitimate head of state of Venezuela, and current opposition leader María Corina Machado has called on Venezuelan citizens to protest the Maduro regime and demand that the rightful president, Edmuro González Urrutia, be installed.
As of now, up to 10 Americans are detained in Venezuela, although the State Department has not declared them wrongfully detained. Three are US citizens who allegedly participated in a plot to destabilize the country, according to Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello. The State Department has denied any US involvement with a plot to overthrow Maduro.