Venezuela frees 6 Americans after meeting between President Maduro and Trump’s envoy

Six Americans detained in Venezuela were freed after a meeting between President Maduro and a Trump administration official.

Six Americans who had been detained in Venezuela in recent months were freed by the government of President Nicolás Maduro after he met Friday (January 31, 2025) with a Trump administration official tasked with urging the authoritarian leader to take back deported migrants who have committed crimes in the United States.

U.S. President Donald Trump and his envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell, announced the release of the six men on social media. The visit by Mr. Grenell came as a shock to many Venezuelans who hoped that Mr. Trump would continue the “maximum pressure” campaign he pursued against Maduro during his first term.

Mr. Grenell’s hours-long trip to Venezuela, according to the White House, was focused on Mr. Trump’s efforts to deport Venezuelans back to their home country, which currently does not accept them, and on the release of the detained Americans.

“We are wheels up and headed home with these 6 American citizens,” Grenell posted on X along with a photo showing him and the men aboard an aircraft. “They just spoke to @realDonaldTrump and they couldn’t stop thanking him.”

The meeting in Venezuela's capital took place less than a month after Mr. Maduro was sworn in for a third six-year term despite credible evidence that he lost last year's election. The U.S. government, along with several other Western nations, does not recognize Maduro's claim to victory and instead points to tally sheets collected by the opposition coalition showing that its candidate, Edmundo González, won by a more than a two-to-one margin.

Venezuelan state television aired footage of Mr. Grenell and Mr. Maduro speaking in the Miraflores Palace and said the meeting had been requested by the U.S. government.

Signing an executive order in the Oval Office on Friday (January 31, 2025), Mr. Trump was asked if Mr. Grenell being filmed meeting with Mr. Maduro lent legitimacy to a government that the Trump White House does not officially recognize.