US hostage envoy visited Venezuela to meet jailed Americans

MIAMI – A elder U.S. diplomat softly traveled to Venezuela this week and met with imprisoned Americans arsenic portion of an ongoing effort to unafraid merchandise of men the Biden medication believes are being held arsenic bargaining chips by a apical U.S. adversary, The Associated Press has learned.

Roger Carstens, the peculiar statesmanlike envoy for hostage affairs and the government's apical hostage negotiator, arrived successful Caracas connected a chartered formation Tuesday evening and returned location Friday successful a antecedently unreported visit.

It was the archetypal known face-to-face outreach by a apical U.S. authoritative since the Trump medication shuttered the American Embassy successful Caracas successful March 2019 aft recognizing absorption person Juan Guaidó arsenic Venezuela’s morganatic leader. Ever since, relations betwixt the 2 countries person grown steadily much hostile, with the U.S. authorities imposing strict lipid sanctions connected the state and targeting apical officials with transgression indictments, thing President Nicolás Maduro has likened to a “soft coup.”

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The timing of the sojourn is apt to rise eyebrows, coming connected the heels of gubernatorial elections considered profoundly undemocratic by the Biden medication aft galore absorption candidates were barred from running.

“Fearful of the dependable and ballot of Venezuelans, the authorities grossly skewed the process to find the effect of this predetermination agelong earlier immoderate ballots had been cast,” the State Department said aft the Nov. 21 vote.

The Maduro government, which successful the past hasn't hesitated to publicize peacemaking missions by salient American interlocutors, has kept mum astir the astonishment visit. Carstens confirmed the sojourn precocious Friday afternoon.

During his visit, helium was permitted to cheque connected a radical of six American lipid executives held successful Caracas’ infamous El Helicoide prison, a one-time modernist buying promenade converted into a installation lodging the government’s apical opponents.

One idiosyncratic acquainted with the sojourn described Carstens’ jailhouse gathering with the six executives from Houston-based Citgo, which lasted astir 90 minutes, arsenic highly emotional. Carstens told the prisoners helium had discussed their lawsuit with Maduro authorities officials portion successful Caracas but declined to accidental whom.

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The idiosyncratic and respective others with cognition of the gathering spoke connected information of anonymity to AP due to the fact that they were not authorized to sermon Carstens' travels.

Tomeu Vadell, Jose Luis Zambrano, Alirio Zambrano, Jorge Toledo, Gustavo Cardenas and José Pereira were hauled distant successful 2017 by masked information agents who stormed into a Caracas league room. The men had been lured to Venezuela conscionable earlier Thanksgiving of that twelvemonth to be a gathering astatine the office of the company’s parent, state-run lipid elephantine PDVSA.

The six were convicted of embezzlement past twelvemonth successful a proceedings marred by delays and irregularities. They were sentenced to betwixt 8 and 13 years successful situation for a never-executed connection to refinance billions of dollars successful the lipid company’s bonds. Maduro astatine the clip accused them of “treason.” They each pleaded not blameworthy and the U.S. considers them to beryllium wrongfully detained.

After having been granted location arrest, they were swiftly thrown backmost successful jailhouse Oct. 16, 2021, the aforesaid time that a adjacent state of Maduro was extradited by the African federation of Cape Verde to the U.S. to look wealth laundering charges.

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While astatine El Helicoide prison, Carstens besides met with Luke Denman and Airan Berry — 2 erstwhile Green Berets arrested successful transportation with a failed raid aimed astatine toppling Maduro that was staged from Colombia. He besides conducted a wellness cheque with erstwhile U.S. Marine Matthew Heath, who is being held astatine a abstracted installation connected unrelated allegations.

The sojourn came conscionable weeks aft household members of the Americans jailed successful Venezuela, and different relatives of hostages and detainees, complained successful a letter to the Biden medication that they felt the releases of their loved ones weren’t being sufficiently prioritized.

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John Pereira, the lad of Jose Pereira, who weeks agone was rushed to a backstage session for exigency attraction for a cardiac condition, told the AP astatine the clip that “our feeling is that they tin bash more.”

President Joe Biden has truthful acold been little nationalist connected the contented of hostage affairs than his predecessor, Donald Trump, who scored respective high-profile releases astir the satellite implicit 4 years, giving officials large leeway to prosecute negotiations.

Trump besides invited hostages and detainees who were freed nether his ticker to look alongside him successful a video aired during the Republican National Convention. That includes Joshua Holt, a Utah antheral who spent 2 years successful a Caracas jailhouse aft traveling to Venezuela to wed a chap Mormon helium met online.

Though nary Americans were freed during the existent visit, immoderate aboriginal releases would correspond a important triumph for Carstens, a retired U.S. Army Special Forces serviceman who was a uncommon holdover from the Trump administration. Last month, writer Danny Fenster was freed aft astir six months successful jail successful military-ruled Myanmar.

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His merchandise was negotiated by erstwhile U.S. diplomat Bill Richardson, who has besides traveled to Caracas successful the past to propulsion for the Americans' release.

At slightest 61 Americans are known to beryllium wrongfully detained oregon held hostage abroad, according to the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, named for James W. Foley, a freelance writer killed astatine the hands of the Islamic State radical successful Syria.

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AP Writer Regina Garcia Cano successful Caracas, Venezuela and Matthew Lee successful Liverpool, England contributed to this report. Tucker reported from Washington.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.