United States brings home 7 detainees in prisoner swap with Venezuela

The Biden administration helped secure the release of seven Americans in Venezuela.
(Image credit: Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The White House announced that a group of seven Americans were released from captivity during a prisoner swap in Venezuela on Saturday, in what marked a rare exchange of political goodwill between the two countries.

In exchange for the release of the American detainees, the United States released a pair of nephews of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's wife. The two men had been held in the U.S. on narcotics charges and were released back into the custody of the Venezuelan government.

In a statement, President Biden said the seven Americans "will soon be reunited with their families and back in the arms of their loved ones where they belong."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"I am grateful for the hard work of dedicated public servants across the U.S. government who made this possible, and who continue to deliver on my administration's unflinching commitment to keep faith with Americans held hostage and wrongfully detained all around the world," the president added. "Today, we celebrate that seven families will be whole once more."

Sources told The Associated Press that the swap took place on the island of St. Vincent and Grenadines — a Caribbean ally of Venezuela. The transfer of the prisoners follows a months-long negotiation process between the two countries, whose relations have soured in recent years due to the policies of Maduro and his predecessor.

Since rising to power in 2013, Maduro and his socialist government have presided over nationwide supply shortages that have led to poverty and hunger crises. Maduro's administration has also been accused of human rights violations and persistent corruption. Some politicians have said that he runs Venezuela as a dictatorship.

Following a political crisis in 2019, a split occurred between the country's Supreme Tribunal and National Assembly, the latter of which declared Maduro to have lost his re-election bid. The United States, along with many other Western nations, no longer recognizes him as the legitimate president of Venezuela, instead choosing to recognize social democrat Juan Guiadó as the country's leader.

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Justin Klawans, The Week US

 Justin Klawans has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022. He began his career covering local news before joining Newsweek as a breaking news reporter, where he wrote about politics, national and global affairs, business, crime, sports, film, television and other Hollywood news. Justin has also freelanced for outlets including Collider and United Press International.