US President Donald Trump took to X (previously Twitter) on Saturday (February 1) to announce the return of six American hostages from Venezuela, marking a major second in diplomatic relations with the Maduro regime.
“Hostages from Venezuela arrived dwelling final evening, in nice situation!,” Trump wrote on X (previously Twitter).
In a follow-up tweet, Trump supplied additional context to the developments, specializing in Venezuela’s settlement to take again unlawful aliens from the US, together with members of the Tren de Aragua gang.
“It’s so good to have the Venezuela Hostages again dwelling and, essential to notice, that Venezuela has agreed to obtain, again into their Nation, all Venezuela unlawful aliens who had been encamped within the U.S., together with gang members of Tren de Aragua. Venezuela has additional agreed to produce the transportation again. We’re within the technique of eradicating file numbers of unlawful aliens from all International locations, and all International locations have agreed to simply accept these unlawful aliens again. Moreover, file numbers of criminals are being faraway from our Nation, and the Border numbers are the strongest they’ve been because the First Time period of the Trump Administration!”
Diplomatic transfer and Grenell’s go to
The six Individuals—who had been detained by Venezuelan authorities in latest months—had been launched after a gathering between Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Trump’s envoy, Richard Grenell. Grenell’s go to to Venezuela took many abruptly.
Grenell posted an replace on X, sharing a photograph with the launched hostages aboard an plane. “We’re wheels up and headed dwelling with these 6 Americans,” he wrote. “They simply spoke to @realDonaldTrump they usually couldn’t cease thanking him.”
And, in one other X put up, Grenell wrote after touchdown within the US: We’re dwelling. God bless these Individuals.”
Maduro’s response to the assembly
The assembly with Maduro passed off in Caracas, the place Grenell and the Venezuelan chief mentioned the discharge of the hostages and the repatriation of deported Venezuelan migrants.
Regardless of being beneath worldwide scrutiny and dealing with allegations of a fraudulent re-election, Maduro referred to the assembly as a step towards strengthening relations with the US.
“We need to construct relationships of respect for Venezuela’s sovereignty, for Venezuela’s democratic life, for worldwide regulation and for our Latin American area,” Maduro mentioned on Venezuelan state tv.
Trump’s stance on Maduro
Whereas Trump has lengthy criticised Maduro’s authoritarian rule, he reiterated throughout a press briefing that he was not trying to legitimise the Venezuelan authorities. “No. We need to do one thing with Venezuela. I’ve been a really massive opponent of Venezuela and Maduro,” Trump said. “They’ve handled us not so good, however they’ve handled, extra importantly, the Venezuelan individuals, very badly.”
This diplomatic breakthrough comes amid ongoing tensions and challenges concerning Venezuela’s political disaster, and the US authorities’s strained relations with the Maduro regime. Regardless of acknowledging “preliminary agreements” in the course of the assembly, Maduro avoided providing additional particulars concerning the talks.
