Venezuela’s interim government freed several U.S. citizens who were imprisoned in the South American country, the State Department said on Tuesday.
They were the first known Americans released from prison since the U.S. military attacked the country and seized President Nicolás Maduro in an audacious nighttime raid in the heart of the capital.
“We welcome the release of detained Americans in Venezuela,” the State Department said in a statement. “This is an important step in the right direction by the interim authorities.”
At least three Americans had been freed as of Tuesday night, according to a person briefed on the events who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivities around the diplomacy.
Among them was one American held in a prison in Caracas, the capital, according to a person familiar with that case. Further details about that person and the other Americans were not immediately available. The person familiar with one American’s release spoke anonymously because the person was not authorized to speak publicly. The American’s release was initially reported by Bloomberg.
Rights groups estimate that 800 to 900 political prisoners are incarcerated in Venezuela. The country’s interim government has promised to free an “important number” of detainees.
Among the political prisoners released over the past several days were several from Italy and Spain, according to figures from Venezuela’s leading human rights organization, Foro Penal. The prisoners had been held in Venezuela’s notoriously harsh prison system.
On Tuesday, Foro Penal denounced the “mass” release promised by the government after only 56 political prisoners had been freed.
“We hope that this changes and that we will see the liberation of all the people arbitrarily detained in Venezuela,” the group said in a statement.
Under Mr. Maduro, the Venezuelan government held many international prisoners as bargaining chips in negotiations, especially with the United States, long its greatest adversary. The prisoners were often held under vague charges like terrorism or espionage.
President Trump has taken a keen interest in the release of the political prisoners during his two terms. Last year, he sent an envoy, Richard Grenell, to Venezuela to negotiate a prisoner deal days after the start of his second term. By summer, more than two dozen Americans detained by the regime had been freed.
In the months after the Trump administration began a military and economic pressure campaign against the government of Venezuela, security forces have detained several more Americans, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.
Some of the detainees faced legitimate criminal charges, according to the official, who spoke to The New York Times in December. But the U.S. government was considering designating at least two prisoners as wrongfully detained.
Those arrested included three Venezuelan Americans and two Americans with no known ties to the country, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly.
The recent releases, which began on Thursday, are perhaps the most visible gesture of change by the interim Venezuelan government, now led by Delcy Rodríguez.
On Jan. 3, American forces captured Mr. Maduro and his wife from their residence in Caracas and flew them to New York. He was jailed under a federal indictment that portrayed him as a crucial actor in the drug trade. He pleaded not guilty to federal drug and weapons charges in a Manhattan courthouse.
Emiliano Rodríguez Mega and James Wagner contributed reporting.
Annie Correal is a Times reporter covering Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.
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