President Trump’s envoy Richard Grenell was able to secure the release of six American hostages in Venezuela during a visit to the country on Friday.
Grenell met Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro in Caracas, with the aim of securing the release of the six unnamed American citizens.
Trump’s envoy posted a photo to X of himself with the six men.
“We are wheels up and headed home with these 6 American citizens,” Grenell wrote. “They just spoke to @realDonaldTrump and they couldn’t stop thanking him.”
Trump applauded the diplomatic victory in his own post, saying Grenell was bringing “six hostages home from Venezuela.”
It’s unclear at this time how many Americans are being held by the Maduro regime, which regularly arrests foreigners as mercenaries or for conspiring to overthrow the government with the backing of the US. In 2023, 10 American citizens were released after protracted negotiations that included the release from US custody of a close ally of President Maduro.
In an official speech, Maduro told officials that the meeting had gone well.
“There are things where we’ve reached initial deals and when they are complied with, new issues will open, hopefully new deals for the good of the two countries and the region,” Maduro said.
“President Donald Trump, we have made a first step, hopefully it can continue,” Maduro added. “We would like it to continue.”
Grenell and Maduro also talked about migration, including the possibility of repatriating hundreds of members of the criminal gang Tren de Aragua.
There are over 600,000 Venezuelans in the US who were granted deportation reprieves by the Biden administration. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has vowed to cut the protections.
