The Biden administration has released one of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro‘s closest allies from U.S. custody in a prisoner swap for 10 Americans held in Venezuela.
Under the deal, the U.S. will free Alex Saab, a Maduro associate who was arrested in 2020 on a U.S. warrant for money laundering. In exchange, the Maduro regime will free the 10 U.S. citizens, including six who have been wrongfully detained in Venezuela.
In its announcement, the White House did not identify the 10 Americans who would be released in the exchange.
Venezuela also agreed to arrest and return to the U.S. Leonard Francis, a Malaysian businessman who is accused of carrying out a scheme to defraud the U.S. out of tens of millions of dollars by paying bribes and overcharging the U.S. government to service naval vessels at ports around the Pacific. He fled to Venezuela, where has remained out of the reach of U.S. law enforcement.
Mr. Maduro’s government has also agreed to release 20 Venezuelan political prisoners, including Roberto Abdul, a member of the country’s political opposition party. He was arrested earlier this month on treason charges.
The deal between Washington and Venezuela, an OPEC country, is the latest pact between the two nations, even as the Biden administration decries Mr. Maduro as a strongman who has undermined his country’s democratic institutions.
Last week, Mr. Biden’s reelection campaign launched ads comparing Mr. Maduro to comments made by former President Donald Trump, saying he’d be “a dictator” on his first day in office if he wins in 2024.
In October, the Biden administration announced it would ease sanctions on Venezuelan oil and gas if the country agreed to election reforms. Critics on both sides of the aisle in Congress panned the deal, saying the U.S. should focus on domestic production, and questioned whether Mr. Maduro would live up to his side of the bargain.
Sen. Joe Manchin, West Virginia Democrat, accused Mr. Biden of dealing with “an oppressor of its own people.”
White House officials had given the Venezuelan government until Nov. 30 to make progress on imposing those reforms, including removing public office bans on opposition candidates and releasing political prisoners to avoid a reinstatement of sanctions.
The U.S. and Venezuelan governments also exchanged prisoners in October 2022, when seven wrongfully detained Americans were released in a swap for two nephews of Mr. Maduro‘s wife. Among the Americans were five Citgo oil executives who had been held in Venezuela for five years.
A senior White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told reporters the deals with Venezuela bring the country closer to democracy.
The official said the agreements give “the Venezuela people the possibility of a more prosperous, stable democratic nation and is important to the well-being of the region.”
Mr. Saab, who was extradited to the U.S. to face criminal prosecution, has pleaded not guilty and his attorneys have been trying to get his case dismissed by claiming diplomatic immunity.
The Saab prosecution has prompted outrage from Venezuela‘s government and some activists in the U.S. His legal team maintains that he was acting as a Venezuelan special envoy working with Iranian officials at the time of his arrest, meaning he should be shielded from prosecution.
While the identities of the Americans have not been confirmed, at least three — Eyvin Hernandez, Jerrel Kenemore and Joseph Cristella — have been designated as wrongfully detained by the U.S. State Department. Another American, Savoi Wright, was arrested just days after Mr. Biden eased the oil sanctions. No criminal charges have been filed against him.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.