Biden administration releases ally of Venezuela’s Maduro in exchange for jailed Americans

The Biden administration has released one of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s closest allies from U.S. custody in a prisoner swap for 10 Americans held in Venezuela.

Under the deal, the U.S. will free Alex Saab, a Maduro associate who was arrested in 2020 on a U.S. warrant for money laundering. In exchange, the Maduro regime will free the 10 U.S. citizens.

Among the 10 Americans who have been released are six Americans classified as wrongfully detained, including Joseph Cristella, Eyvin Hernandez, Jerrel Kenemore, Savoi Wright, and two others not publicly named. The administration also said it would not identify the remaining four Americans out of respect for their privacy. 

Venezuela also agreed to arrest and to return to the U.S. Leonard Francis, a Malaysian businessman who is accused of carrying out a scheme to defraud the U.S. out of tens of millions of dollars by paying bribes and overcharging the U.S. government to service naval vessels at ports around the Pacific. He fled to Venezuela, where has remained out of the reach of U.S. law enforcement.

Mr. Maduro’s government has also agreed to release 20 Venezuelan political prisoners, including Roberto Abdul, a member of the country’s political opposition party. He was arrested earlier this month on treason charges.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle quickly condemend the deal. 

Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida Republican, called the deal “shameless,” while Sen. Robert Menendez, New Jersey Democrat, said it was “unconscionable” that President Biden was willing to deal with Mr. Maduro. 

“A concession-only approach towards a narco-dictator, whose only aspiration is to maintain his illegal grip on power, is doomed to fail and weakens U.S. foreign policy. There must be a real effort from this administration to advocate for free, multiparty, transparent and internationally observed elections in Venezuela,” Mr. Rubio said in a statement. 

Speaking to reporters Wednesday night, Mr. BIden defended the deal, saying it brings home Americans who were held overseas and that, so far, Mr. Maduro has kept his promises to ensure free elections in Venezeula. 

The deal between Washington and Venezuela, an OPEC country, is the latest pact between the two nations, even as the Biden administration decries Mr. Maduro as a strongman who has undermined his country’s democratic institutions.

Last week, Mr. Biden’s reelection campaign launched ads comparing Mr. Maduro to comments made by former President Donald Trump, saying he’d be “a dictator” on his first day in office if he wins in 2024.

In October, the Biden administration announced it would ease sanctions on Venezuelan oil and gas if the country agreed to election reforms. Critics on both sides of the aisle in Congress panned the deal, saying the U.S. should focus on domestic production, and questioned whether Mr. Maduro would live up to his side of the bargain.

Sen. Joe Manchin, West Virginia Democrat, accused Mr. Biden of dealing with “an oppressor of its own people.”

White House officials had given the Venezuelan government until Nov. 30 to make progress on imposing those reforms, including removing public office bans on opposition candidates and releasing political prisoners to avoid a reinstatement of sanctions.

The U.S. and Venezuelan governments also exchanged prisoners in October 2022, when seven wrongfully detained Americans were released in a swap for two nephews of Mr. Maduro’s wife. Among the Americans were five Citgo oil executives who had been held in Venezuela for five years.

In a statement, Mr. Biden said his administration is working to ensure the Maduro government lives up to the commitments it made in these deals.

“They have announced an electoral roadmap — agreed to by opposition parties — for competitive Presidential elections in 2024. This a positive and important step forward. And today, they are releasing twenty political prisoners, on top of five released previously.  We will continue to monitor this closely and take appropriate action if needed,” Mr. Biden said. 

Mr. Saab, who was extradited to the U.S. to face criminal prosecution, has pleaded not guilty and his attorneys have been trying to get his case dismissed by claiming diplomatic immunity.

The Saab prosecution has prompted outrage from Venezuela’s government and some activists in the U.S. His legal team maintains that he was acting as a Venezuelan special envoy working with Iranian officials at the time of his arrest, meaning he should be shielded from prosecution.

In a statement, the family of Mr. Wright said they were “grateful” to the U.S. government for bringing him home.

“In time, we will have much to say about how we think this process could better serve families and about reforms needed to the designation system, but for now, we’d respectfully ask for privacy and space as we welcome Savoi home and help him recover from the trauma of this ordeal.”

In his statement, Mr. Biden pledged to bring other Americans detained abroad, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and U.S. Marine Paul Whelan who are both being detained in Russia, as well as the Americans being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.