By Oyintari Ben
On Saturday, President Joe Biden announced the release of seven Americans who had been unjustly held captive in Venezuela for “years.”
We are returning Jorge Toledo, Tomeu Vadell, Alirio Zambrano, Jose Luis Zambrano, Jose Pereira, Matthew Heath, and Osman Khan after years of unjustly being jailed in Venezuela, he said.
These people will soon be reunited with their families and placed right where they belong—in the arms of their loved ones—the president said in a statement.
Two Venezuelans detained in the US, both of whom were the nephews of Venezuelan First Lady Cilia Flores, were freed in return for the release of the seven American captives.
The “CITGO 6,” a group of six American oil executives detained in Venezuela more than four years ago, includes Vadell, Toledo, Jose Luis Zambrano, Alirio Zambrano, and Pereira. Following the visit of two senior US government officials to Caracas in March, two Americans who had been arrested there, including one of the CITGO 6, were freed. In September 2020, Heath, a former Marine, was arrested. Since January 2022, Khan has been detained.
According to the US administration, all seven detainees were unlawfully detained.
A senior administration source informed reporters on Saturday that Vadell, Toledo, Jose Luis, Alirio, Pereira, Heath, and Khan are all in “stable condition” and have been provided with medical attention and a “variety of support alternatives.” The official stated that they are currently in the air returning to the US.
According to a second senior source, US representatives visited with each of the seven people after their release and are scheduled to do additional evaluations on Saturday.
The first senior official said Biden called each family to “convey the joyful news of their release.”
The official referred to Biden and the US government’s decision to exchange prisoners with Venezuela as “difficult” and “painful.”
