US and Venezuela exchange prisoners

(Washington) US President Joe Biden announced on Saturday the release by Venezuela of seven American prisoners “after years of unjustified detention”, Caracas announcing in parallel that two Venezuelans, identified as the nephews of the wife of President Maduro, had also released by Washington.

“Today, after years of wrongful detention in Venezuela, we bring home Jorge Toledo, Tomeu Vadell, Alirio Zambrano, Jose Luis Zambrano, Jose Pereira, Matthew Heath, and Osman Khan,” said Joe Biden.

The Venezuelan government said in a statement that “following the various conversations held since March 5 with representatives of the American government, the release of two young Venezuelans unjustly imprisoned in this country has been obtained”.

The two released Venezuelans were identified by Washington as Efrain Antonio Campo Flores and Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas, nephews of the first lady, Cilia Flores, and sentenced in 2017 to 18 years in prison in New York for drug trafficking.

“It became particularly clear during the negotiations that (the release) of the two Venezuelans—sometimes dubbed the “narco nephews” because of their parentage to the wife of Nicolas Maduro—was essential to securing the release of these Americans,” a senior US government official told reporters.

“The president (Joe Biden) made a difficult decision, a painful decision to offer something that Venezuelans were actively seeking,” he added.

Caracas also confirmed the release “for humanitarian reasons” of a group of Americans.

The seven Americans are “currently en route to home and their families in the United States,” the senior US government official said.

Fluctuating relationships

The first five detainees cited by the American president are former executives of the oil company Citgo – four Americans born in Venezuela and a Venezuelan permanent resident in the United States – accused of corruption and sentenced to eight to 13 years in prison.

A sixth of Citgo, Gustavo Cardenas, who was vice president in charge of strategic relations of this American subsidiary of the state oil company of Venezuela PDVSA, was released in March.

Since their arrest in 2017, they have lived with the fluctuations of relations between Caracas and Washington.

This case has contributed to further strain relations between Venezuela and the United States, which has repeatedly called for the release of the defendants. The NGO Foro Penal, a specialist in human rights and the prison world, classifies the “Citgo 6” among the 251 “political prisoners” in Venezuela.

The exchange announced on Saturday is part of a context of warming relations between Caracas and Washington.

The United States, which does not recognize President Maduro’s re-election in 2018, has tried to oust him from power by imposing a series of sanctions on Venezuela, including an embargo on American imports of Venezuelan oil. Before this break in 2019, the United States was the main buyer of Venezuelan crude and supplied Venezuela with more than 90% of its income.

In March, in addition to Gustavo Cardenas, another American detained in Venezuela was also released after the surprise visit of high-level American envoys to Caracas.

The invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions against Russia have raised tensions around oil prices, while Venezuela remains a major producer, but also an ally of Moscow.

According to several analysts, Washington could thus be tempted to soften the sanctions against Caracas, in order to reduce the need for Russian oil.