Venezuela has freed seven jailed Americans in exchange for the release of two relatives of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the two countries have confirmed.
The swap included five American oil executives, US officials said.
The Americans were exchanged for two of Mr Maduro’s wife’s nephews, who were serving 18-year sentences in the US on drug charges, the officials said.
Venezuela said two men “unjustly” held in the US were freed.
It added that a group of US citizens were released for “humanitarian reasons”.
The swap included executives of Venezuela’s US-based oil company, Citgo, in addition to US Marine veteran Matthew Heath and another American citizen named Osman Khan, US officials said. The oil executives – Tomeu Vadell, Jose Luis Zambrano, Alirio Zambrano, Jorge Toledo and Jose Pereira – were jailed five years ago, after being summoned to a meeting in Caracas, where they were charged with terrorism.
President Joe Biden said in a statement that the “wrongfully detained” Americans would soon be reunited with their relatives.
Credit: bbc.com
