US Releases Nephews of Venezuelan President's Wife in Exchange for Seven Americans

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Seven US nationals who were imprisoned in Venezuela have been released and will soon reunite with their families, US President Joe Biden said on Saturday.

"Today, after years of being wrongfully detained in Venezuela, we are bringing home Jorge Toledo, Tomeu Vadell, Alirio Zambrano, Jose Luis Zambrano, Jose Pereira, Matthew Heath, and Osman Khan," Biden said in a statement. "These individuals will soon be reunited with their families and back in the arms of their loved ones where they belong."

He also thanked civil servants across the US for their dedicated work that made the release possible.

"Today, we celebrate that seven families will be whole once more. To all the families who are still suffering and separated from their loved ones who are wrongfully detained – know that we remain dedicated to securing their release," the statement stressed.

Biden noted that preventing other US citizens from being held hostage or wrongfully detained in other countries is one of the priorities of his administration.

Echoing Biden's remarks, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted a statement that "more work" needs to be done in regards to Americans detained abroad, underscoring that the Biden administration would forge ahead on the matter.

The prisoner swap was later confirmed by the Venezuelan Communications Minister Freddy Nanez.

The release, which is part of a prisoner swap for two nephews of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's wife, is being hailed as one of the largest trades of American citizens under the Biden White House.

Reports indicate that Vadell, Toledo, Pereira, Zambrano and Luis Zambrano had been detained in Venezuela after traveling to the country in 2017 to attend a meeting with the state-run PDVSA oil giant, which serves as the parent company of Citgo. The five Americans had been employed by the Houston-based firm.

Heath had been in Venezuelan custody since his 2020 arrest, whereas Khan had been taken into custody in January. The Maduro relatives had been held in the US on drug smuggling charges after the pair were arrested in Haiti as part of a sting orchestrated by the US Drug Enforcement Administration in 2015.