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Six Americans have been released in Venezuela in recent months by the government of President Nicholas Maduro after him He met Friday with a Trump administration official The authoritarian leader is charged with restoring migrants who committed crimes in the United States.
President Trump and his special missions, Richard Greenil, announced the release of the six men on social media. Greenil’s visit was a shock to many Venezuelans who were hoping to continue Mr. Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Maduro during his first term.
Greenil’s hours, which lasted for Venezuela, according to the White House, focused on Mr. Trump’s efforts to deport the Venezuelan to their homeland, which is not currently accepting them, and on the launch of the detained Americans.
“We replace the wheels and go home with these six American citizens,” Greenil posted on X Along with a picture showing him and men on board a plane. “They just spoken to Realdonaldtrump and they could not stop thanks.”
Venezuela Presidential Press Office, via AP
The meeting was held in the capital of Venezuela less than a month after Maduro’s oath performance for a period of six years, despite reliable evidence that he lost elections last year. The US government, along with many other Western countries, does not recognize Maduro’s demand for victory, and instead it indicates the number of the number collected by the opposition coalition, which turned out to be its candidate, Edmondo Gonzalez, won a margin of more than two to one.
The Venezuelan state television broadcast Greenil and Maduro’s snapshots at Mirlores Palace and said that the meeting was requested by the US government.
After signing an executive order at the Oval Office on Friday, Mr. Trump was asked whether Greenil had been filmed with Maduro, as it was legitimized to a administration that the White House did not recognize Trump officially.
“No. We want to do something with Venezuela. I was a great opponent in Venezuela and Maduro,” Trump answered. “They treated us not good, but they dealt, and most importantly, the Venezuelan people, very badly.”
Mr. Trump added that Greenil “meets with many different people, but for the sake of the people of Venezuela.”
Some Republicans criticized the visit.
“This is a terrible timing,” said Elliot Abrams, who served as a special envoy for Venezuela and Iran during the first Trump administration. “A meeting with Maduro will be used by him to give legitimacy to his rule and show that the Americans get to know him as a president. If the purpose is to provide a difficult message on immigration issues, the president did this himself. To send someone to Caracas.”
The conflict over the election results sparked protests across the country. More than 2,200 people were arrested during and after the demonstrations.
Among the people detained up to 10 Americans linked the government to the alleged plots to destabilize the country. The White House nor the Maduro government immediately issued the names of the six who were released on Friday.
A non -profit group called for the release of one of the detainees that David Astrilla, 62, who heard the last time in September, was among those who returned to the US Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosadado Capello had accused Estrella of being part of an alleged plot to assassinate Maduro .
The Trump administration has taken a large number of actions to provide promises to take strict measures on illegal immigration and implement the greatest mass deportation effort in the history of the United States.
These measures include cancellation earlier this week of the Biden administration decision, which would have been protecting nearly 600,000 Venezuela from deportation, which endangers at the risk of removing it from the country within about two months.
White House journalist Caroline Levitte told reporters on Friday that Mr. Trump had ordered Greenil to “determine a place and ensure that returning trips to the homeland” carry the Venezuelan, including members of the criminal Trine de Araga organization, “The Earth in Venezuela”. And Mr. Trump also ordered Greenil “to make sure that all detainees in Venezuela returned to the house.”
More than 7.7 million Veneers have left their homeland since 2013, when its economy collapsed and Maduro took office. Most of them settled in Latin America and the Caribbean Sea region, but after the epidemic, the immigrants have increasingly gave their attention to the United States
It is expected that the desire of Venezuelan will continue in better living conditions and their rejection of Maduro to push people to migrate.
Before the presidential election last year, an opinion poll conducted by the Venezuela Research Company showed about a quarter of the population who are considering immigration if Maduro was re -elected.
Greenil has communicated with Maduro before on behalf of Mr. Trump to secure the release of the Americans who are imprisoned only to return to the home empty -handed.
In 2020, he traveled with Eric Prince, founder of the controversial security company Blackwatter, to Mexico City to attend a secret meeting with a major assistant Maduro. Backchannel’s conversations focused on Maduro’s offer to swap eight Americans and then imprisoned in Venezuela to businessman Alex SABB, a close ally of the President accused in the United States of money laundering, previously reported by Associated Press.
No deal was concluded and Greenil asked Maduro to be stepped up by the Venezuelan President’s envoy. Greenil has always denied that he is negotiating a hostage swap.
Later, in December 2023, the Biden administration exchanged 10 Americans as part of a policy to re -engage Maduro before the presidential elections.
