WASHINGTON — The U.S. has reached a deal with the Venezuelan government to release an ally of President Nicolás Maduro in exchange for freeing 10 jailed Americans and a group of Venezuelan political prisoners, senior Biden administration officials said Wednesday.
The Maduro ally, Alex Saab, is a Colombian businessman who was arrested in 2020 for his alleged role in a money laundering scheme involving the bribery of Venezuelan government officials and $350 million in Venezuelan assets.
Among the Americans, the State Department said there are six who were being wrongfully detained including Eyvin Hernandez, Jerrel Kenemore, Joseph Cristella and Savoi Wright. A senior administration official added, “At this time we are not naming any additional individuals out of consideration for their privacy.”
Wright’s family said in a statement that they are relieved that the ordeal has ended. “We are grateful to the U.S. government for bringing Savoi home so quickly, to Mickey Bergman from the Richardson Center, to Jonathan Franks, who guided us the entire way, and to the many others who helped to bring Savoi home. We are forever grateful,” they said.
“These individuals have lost far too much precious time with their loved ones, and their families have suffered every day in their absence,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “I am grateful that their ordeal is finally over, and that these families are being made whole once more.”
As part of the arrangement, Leonard Francis, better known as “Fat Leonard,” was arrested and returned to the U.S. He was behind one of the worst bribery scandals in U.S. Navy history. In 2022, weeks before his sentencing, Leonard fled to Venezuela after escaping house arrest by cutting off his ankle monitoring bracelet.
Biden “had to make the extremely difficult decision to offer something that the Venezuelan counterparts have actively sought,” one senior administration official said. “And he made the decision to grant clemency to Alex Saab, who was pending trial for money laundering, and allow his return to Venezuela in what was essentially an exchange of 10 Americans and a fugitive from justice for one person returned to Venezuela.”
The agreement also requires the Maduro government to release 20 Venezuelan political prisoners as well as opposition party member Roberto Abdul and suspend the arrest warrants for three other Venezuelans.
The deal follows the relaxation of U.S. sanctions on Venezuela in October in exchange for progress toward free and fair elections. As a caveat to the agreement, the Biden administration threatened to pull back its sanctions relief if Venezuela did not release both American and Venezuelan political prisoners.
Qatar facilitated the conversations between Maduro authorities and the Biden administration, the senior administration officials said.
The talks included Secretary of State Antony Blinken, national security adviser Jake Sullivan and deputy national security adviser Jon Finer. Discussions had been going on since May and were aimed at “clearing a path toward a competitive election in 2024 and the return of wrongfully detained Americans,” the officials said.
Biden said in his statement Wednesday that even as the U.S. celebrates the return of the Americans, his administration is focused on securing the release of hostages from Gaza and detained Americans around the world, including Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan in Russia.
“We will not stop working until we bring them all home,” he said.
