The American special envoy of the Donald Trump administration, Richard Grenell, has announced that six American citizens arrested in Venezuela have returned to the United States after the US government demanded their release. “We take off and head home with these six US citizens. They had just talked to Donald Trump and could not stop thanking him,” Grenell said in his social network account X, accompanying his message with an image of himself next to them inside a plane.
The head of Communication of Venezuela, Freddy Ñáñez, confirmed that Richard Grenell, a special envoy of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, was going to meet with Nicolás Maduro, in Caracas, despite the fact that the US administration recognizes the opponent as the legitimate leader of the country. Ñáñez shared a message from journalist Karen Méndez, who explained that sources from the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry reported that Grenell “requested a formal hearing” with Maduro. According to Méndez, “the hearing has been accepted and it has transcended that President Maduro will propose a ‘zero agenda'”.
Grenell planned to meet with Maduro, who swore in for a third six-year period on January 10 after his questioned re-election. On the visit, Republican congressman Rick Scott expressed his expectations on social networks that he hopes Trump’s envoy for special missions will demand the return of “kidnapped” Americans in that country. There are eight Americans being detained in Venezuela, most of them since 2019. Scott also stated that he is confident that Maduro’s executive will “recover thugs and gang members” in the United States.
Scott reiterated that he expects Grenell to find “a new country” in which Maduro, the head of the Venezuelan interior Diosdado Cabello, and “any other person involved in this regime” can be “relocated”. The return of the six American citizens is seen as a significant development in the relations between the US and Venezuela, and it remains to be seen what other outcomes will result from Grenell’s meeting with Maduro.