Biden Reaches Long-Awaited Deal to Free Americans in Venezuela

President Joe Biden has reached a deal with Venezuela to secure the freedom of 10 U.S. citizens, the transfer of a U.S. fugitive and the release of 21 Venezuelan nationals being held in the Latin American nation.

The arrangement involves the release of a high-profile Colombian businessman and diplomat with close ties to Caracas, according to senior administration officials.

"Today, 10 Americans who have been detained in Venezuela have been released and are coming home, including all six wrongfully detained Americans," Biden said in a statement on Wednesday.

"These individuals have lost far too much precious time with their loved ones, and their families have suffered every day in their absence. I am grateful that their ordeal is finally over, and that these families are being made whole once more."

A breakthrough on the deal, which Newsweek first reported had begun to materialize in February, was earlier confirmed Wednesday by three senior Biden administration officials. The officials said the groundwork for the agreement was laid at a peace summit hosted by Colombia in April, when a Venezuelan official outlined to Newsweek the country's proposal for an exchange.

"This is the result of many, many months of negotiations," one senior U.S. administration official said during a press call Wednesday. "Regular consultations with the president and [an] extensive amount of work involving our senior leadership, involving [national security adviser] Jake Sullivan and [deputy national security adviser] Jon Finer has culminated in what we think is a very positive outcome."

Reached for comment by Newsweek, another senior administration official identified Eyvin Hernandez, Joseph Cristella, Jerrel Kenemore and Savoi Wright as being among six of the U.S. nationals to be released who were considered "wrongfully detained."

Also identified by Biden and senior administration officials as being part of the swap was Francis Leonard, a former Navy officer who pled guilty in 2015 to his part in one of the most notorious bribery scandals in U.S. Navy history.

Leonard was arrested and returned to the U.S. to be transferred to a federal detention facility upon his release from Venezuela, where he was arrested in September 2022 while trying to flee to Cuba.

Newsweek had previously reported on a letter to Biden issued by Hernandez in February calling for his own release as well as that of at least three other fellow U.S. nationals—including Kenemore, Cristella and Jason Saad—in exchange for Colombian businessman Alex Saab.

Hernandez was arrested by Venezuelan authorities on March 31, 2022, accused of illegally entering the country from the border with Colombia, though his family has maintained his innocence.

A senior U.S. administration official said during the call Wednesday that Biden had to make the "extremely difficult decision" to grant Saab clemency as part of the newly finalized agreement.

Saab, who was appointed as a special envoy by the administration of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, was detained in June 2020 by Cape Verde authorities at the request of the U.S. during a fuel stop as he traveled to Iran from Venezuela for what was said to be a diplomatic and humanitarian mission.

He was extradited to the U.S. in October 2021, where he was charged with money laundering tied to an alleged bribery scheme that has been denied by Saab.

Washington, which cut ties with the Maduro administration amid accusations of election fraud in January 2019, has not recognized Saab's diplomatic status.

A statement later released by the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said that the government "joyfully celebrates the release and return to his homeland of our diplomat, Alex Saab, who until today was unjustly kidnapped in a U.S. prison."

"The people welcome him with pride after having suffered three and a half years of illegal detention under cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, violating his human rights and the Vienna Convention that confers diplomatic immunity," the statement said.

"Alex Saab is a victim of the retaliation of the United States government for his exceptional international efforts in protecting the social rights of all Venezuelans, in the face of the intensification of unilateral coercive measures," it added.

The statement also called for "the definitive, immediate and unconditional cessation of the criminal blockade that the Government of the United States imposes against all the Venezuelan people," in reference to ongoing sanctions against the country.

Among the Venezuelans set to be released as part of the deal, according to the senior Biden administration officials, is opposition member Roberto Abdul, who was arrested earlier this month on charges of conspiring to sabotage a recent referendum held on the status of the country's claim to an oil-rich region in neighboring Guyana. Officials did not identify the other 20 "political prisoners" set to be released.

Newsweek has reached out to the Hernandez family, the U.S. special envoy for hostage affairs and a representative of the Venezuelan government for comment.

The deal could signal a positive development in the fraught relations between Washington and Caracas as the Biden administration has steadily lifted certain sanctions against Venezuela, most recently in October, in line with efforts to ensure the country holds free and fair elections in 2024.

It also comes just one day after news that two other U.S. citizens implicated in an abortive May 2020 coup attempt, Luke Denman and Airan Berry, had been released by Venezuela.

A second senior Biden administration official on Wednesday emphasized that discussions on other topics such as sanctions relief were not part of negotiations toward the release of U.S. citizens in Venezuela.

"In terms of sanctions relief, I want to underscore that at no point have we talked about sanctions relief or oil and gas relief in exchange for wrongfully detained Americans," the senior official said. "That's not ever been a part of the discussion."

"When we've looked at sanctions relief, it has been in the context of the negotiations that are ongoing with members of the Unitary Platform and representatives of Nicolás Maduro," the senior official added. "We will return to those conversations after this."

Despite backing from Washington, Venezuela's opposition has failed to unseat Maduro from power and has suffered from internal fractures, dismissing once-U.S.-recognized President Juan Guaidó late last year. Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won an opposition primary held in October and last week submitted an appeal to Venezuela's Supreme Court to overturn a ban on her candidacy.

The second senior Biden administration official said Wednesday that the U.S. expected that the Supreme Court decision "will be done properly."

"We've been very clear that the U.S. will calibrate our sanctions on the basis of concrete outcomes between Venezuela and our policies," the official said. "And our policy, consistently has been to support a negotiated outcome that leads to competitive and inclusive elections."

The president also took the opportunity upon announcement of the prisoner deal on Wednesday to discuss his administration's approach to Venezuela.

"We are ensuring that the Venezuelan regime meets its commitments," Biden said. "They have announced an electoral roadmap – agreed to by opposition parties – for competitive Presidential elections in 2024. This a positive and important step forward."

The president said the U.S. would "continue to monitor this closely and take appropriate action if needed," stating that, "We stand in support of democracy in Venezuela and the aspirations of the Venezuelan people."