Washington– The Trump administration said Tuesday that several Americans who had been detained in Venezuela have been released.
The US State Department said: “We welcome the release of Americans detained in Venezuela.” “This is an important step in the right direction by the interim authorities.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not provide the exact number of those released. But a person familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe non-public details, said four Americans were released as a group on Tuesday, and one was quietly released on Monday.
The releases come after the US captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a stunning nighttime raid earlier this month.
Venezuelan National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said last week that a “large number” of Venezuelans and foreigners imprisoned in the country would be released as a gesture to “seek peace” in the wake of the military operation that ousted Maduro.
As of Tuesday evening, Venezuelan human rights group Foro Penal had confirmed the release of 56 prisoners, which it said were detained for political reasons. The group criticized the lack of government transparency regarding the releases. The Venezuelan government denied the organization’s count, and announced a much higher number of 400 on Tuesday afternoon.
But the government did not provide evidence of the releases or the time scale in which they were carried out, and did not identify those released, making it impossible to determine whether those released were behind bars for political or other reasons.
Although the relationship between Washington and Caracas has long been fraught and limited, the prisoner releases have been a rare source of engagement, as the two countries have engaged in a series of exchanges of detained citizens.
In July, Venezuela released 10 imprisoned US citizens And permanent residents in exchange for the return of dozens of immigrants who were deported by the United States to El Salvador as part of the Trump administration’s campaign against immigration.
Bloomberg News first reported the releases.