Richard Grenell, President Trump’s envoy for special missions, said on social media that he was flying home from Venezuela with six American detainees on Friday, after meeting with the country’s president.
There were at least nine people with U.S. citizenship or residency detained in Venezuela, according to Venezuelan officials. The government had accused some of them of plotting to kill the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro.
“Just been informed that we are bringing six hostages home from Venezuela,” Mr. Trump said on social media. “Thank you to Ric Grenell and my entire staff. Great job!”
The United States has no diplomatic presence in Venezuela, and the U.S. government was not even sure where its citizens were being held, a State Department representative said this month.
Relatives of three detained U.S. citizens said they had gotten very little information from the American government and had not heard from their loved ones for months since they had disappeared.
David Estrella, 64, who worked in quality control for pharmaceutical companies in New Jersey, was among those released, according to his family.