Venezuela freed seven Americans in exchange for the release of two nephews of President Nicholas Maduro’s wife jailed for years by the United States on drug smuggling convictions.
The swap of the Americans on Saturday, including five oil executives held for nearly five years, is the largest trade of detained citizens ever carried out by the Biden administration.
The prisoner swap amounts to a rare gesture of goodwill by Maduro as the socialist leader looks to rebuild relations with the US after vanquishing most of his domestic opponents.
The deal follows months of back-channel diplomacy by Washington’s top hostage negotiator and other US officials—secretive talks with a major oil producer that took on greater urgency after sanctions on Russia put pressure on global energy prices.
Read more here.
