Washington
\nAmerican missionary Josh Holt, held by Venezuela without trial on weapons charges since 2016, returned home with his wife on Saturday after the South American country\u2019s socialist government unexpectedly released them.<\/p>\n
They were welcomed to the White House by US President Donald Trump, who told Holt he had been \u201cincredibly brave.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s amazing that you were able to take it … that was a tough situation,\u201d Trump said during a televised meeting at the Oval Office with Holt\u2019s parents.<\/p>\n
The freeing of the Mormon missionary from Utah came despite deepening US-Venezuelan tensions that in the last week saw tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats, Washington\u2019s refusal to recognize the May 20 re-election of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and the imposition of new US sanctions on Caracas.<\/p>\n
Holt, who was arrested in June 2016 while he was in the country for his wedding to his Venezuela-born wife, said he was \u201coverwhelmed\u201d to be back home after two very difficult years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just so grateful for what you guys have done, and for thinking about me, and caring about me, just a normal person,\u201d Holt said during the Oval Office meeting. \u201cIt really touches me,\u201d he said, his voice breaking.<\/p>\n
The couple were accompanied home by US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, who met on Friday with Maduro.<\/p>\n
Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, who was also at the Oval Office meeting, said earlier on Saturday in a statement that Holt\u2019s release followed two years of intense lobbying, working with two presidential administrations, countless diplomatic contacts around the world, and Maduro himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou better really live a good life,\u201d Hatch told Holt at the White House, drawing chuckles from Holt\u2019s family and others.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Holt\u2019s relatives gave thanks \u201cto all who participated in this miracle.\u201d<\/p>\n
A source familiar with the issue who asked to remain anonymous said there was no quid pro quo or agreement to ease US sanctions tied to Holt\u2019s release, and that Trump was not involved in the final negotiations.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery glad that Josh Holt is now back home with his family \u2013 where he has always belonged,\u201d US Vice President Mike Pence wrote on Twitter. \u201cSanctions continue until democracy returns to Venezuela.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was echoed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who said US policy remains unchanged. \u201cThe United States stands steadfast in support of the Venezuelan people and their efforts to return to democracy,\u201d Pompeo said in a statement.<\/p>\n
At a news conference in Caracas earlier on Saturday, Venezuelan Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez said Holt and his wife were freed as part of efforts by Maduro\u2019s government to maintain \u201crespectful diplomatic relations\u201d with Washington.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis type of gesture … allows us to consolidate what has always been our standpoint: dialogue, agreement, respect for our independence, respect for our sovereignty,\u201d Rodriguez said.<\/p>\n
Holt and his wife had been charged with espionage, violence and spreading activities against Venezuela\u2019s constitutional order, he said.<\/p>\n
Matt Whitlock, a spokesman for Hatch, said the Utah Republican called Maduro last week after hearing of riots by inmates at the intelligence agency headquarters where Holt was held. In a Facebook post during the uprising, Holt had pleaded for freedom and said people were trying to break into his cell to kill him.<\/p>\n
\u201cJosh had posted videos and pled for help so Senator Hatch made one final plea directly to President Maduro that set wheels in motion,\u201d Whitlock wrote in an email to Reuters. \u201cChairman Corker went down mid-week to close the deal, and his staff have been instrumental in moving the ball forward.\u201d Holt was held without trial at the headquarters of intelligence agency Sebin, a Caracas complex known as the Helicoide.<\/p>\n
His family says Holt was framed on the weapons charges and the United States accused Caracas of using him as a bargaining chip in sanctions talks.<\/p>\n
In televised comments earlier this month, the No. 2 official in Venezuela\u2019s ruling Socialist Party, Diosdado Cabello, described Holt as \u201cthe head of US espionage in Latin America\u201d and said that he would remain behind bars.<\/p>\n
The United States accuses Maduro\u2019s government of stifling democracy, repressing the opposition and massive corruption.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington American missionary Josh Holt, held by Venezuela without trial on weapons charges since 2016, returned home with his wife on Saturday after the South American country\u2019s socialist government unexpectedly released them. They were welcomed to the White House by US President Donald Trump, who told Holt he had been \u201cincredibly brave.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s amazing that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32254,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32253"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32255,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32253\/revisions\/32255"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}