The United States on Wednesday released a close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in exchange for 10 jailed Americans and a defense contractor known as “Fat Leonard,” who is at the center of one of the U.S. Navy’s largest corruption cases.
The Maduro government will also release 20 Venezuelan political prisoners and Roberto Abdul, Venezuela’s opposition leader, U.S. officials said.
Among the Americans released Wednesday were six people deemed “wrongfully detained” by the Biden administration, a designation that indicates the U.S. government views them as the equivalent of political hostages.
“These people have lost too much precious time with their loved ones, and their families have suffered every day in their absence,” President Biden said in a statement before announcing the swap.
The exchange comes as the Biden administration seeks to improve relations with the authoritarian government in Caracas. The United States is increasingly interested in improving the economic situation in Venezuela to try to cope with the arrival of large numbers of Venezuelan migrants at the US southern border.
The United States recently restarted deportation flights to Venezuela and lifted some sanctions after the Maduro administration agreed to take interim steps toward free and fair elections.
“It appears that Maduro, so far, is keeping his commitment to free elections,” Biden told reporters Wednesday. «But it’s not finished yet. “We have a long way to go.”
U.S. officials saw the exchange as necessary to reunite Americans with their families in the United States. This came after months of negotiations between top U.S. and Venezuelan officials, which were mediated by Qatar, American officials said.
But for some in Venezuela, the deal was a victory for Maduro because it led to the release of Alex Saab, accused by the United States of “taking advantage of hunger” of Venezuelans. Many Venezuelans say Saab has become synonymous with the worst abuses of the Maduro government.
A Colombian businessman and financial intermediary for Maduro, Saab was indicted in 2019 in connection with a corruption scheme that embezzled about $350 million from a Venezuelan government housing project.
Mr. Saab, who landed in Venezuela on Wednesday afternoon, is one of several Maduro-linked officials and businessmen indicted by the U.S. government in recent years, including Maduro himself.
He was extradited from the West African island nation of Cape Verde to the United States in 2021 to face money laundering charges, one of Maduro’s highest-ranking supporters taken into American custody. He has pleaded not guilty.
Washington has accused Saab of being involved in a scheme in which he and others stole large sums of government funds intended to feed Venezuela’s hungry.
Sen. Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat who has criticized the White House’s approach to Venezuela, called the exchange “unconscionable.”
But some foreign policy experts said the release of 10 Americans was a diplomatic victory for the Biden administration. Christopher Sabatini, senior researcher for Latin America at Chatham House, a research group in London, said it is never ideal to negotiate with “criminal regimes.”
“Understandably, there are those who will call it a sell-out,” he said, “but this is diplomacy.”
Maduro’s government argued that Saab’s detention was illegal, saying he was a diplomatic envoy and could not be prosecuted.
Under the terms of the deal, Venezuela also agreed to return former defense contractor Leonard Glenn Francis, known as Fat Leonard, to the United States. Mr. Francis, a Malaysian businessman, is at the center of a fraud and corruption case that has led to federal criminal charges against more than 30 U.S. Navy officials and defense contractors, according to the Justice Department.
He was due to be sentenced last year, but escaped house arrest in September 2022 by cutting off his ankle monitor and fleeing to Venezuela. Two weeks later, he was stopped by Interpol agents at Caracas airport while trying to board a flight to Russia. He faces up to 25 years in prison and has agreed to forfeit $35 million in profits.
More than two dozen people have pleaded guilty in connection with the scheme. They admitted accepting millions of dollars in luxury travel, accommodation, meals or prostitute services from Mr Francis in exchange for lucrative military contracts for his Singapore-based business, Glenn Defense Marine Asia.
Prosecutors said Mr. Francis’ gifts to Navy officers also included more than $500,000 in cash, Cuban cigars, Kobe beef and Spanish suckling pigs. He also threw lavish parties for senior officials at luxury hotels in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.
By fleeing to Venezuela, Francis may have believed that years of hostile diplomacy between Maduro and the United States would protect him from extradition. Maduro has an affable working relationship with Russia and has been considering a visit to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin for months.
But the American and Venezuelan governments raised cautious hopes of easing tensions when they reached a deal in October that eliminated some economic sanctions against Venezuela.
In October last year, Biden agreed to grant clemency to two nephews of Venezuela’s first lady to secure the release of seven Americans.
Among the Americans released Wednesday were Jerrel Kenemore and Eyvin Hernandez, arrested in March 2022; Joseph Cristella, arrested in Venezuela in September of that year; and Savoi Wright, a California businessman whose family said he was wrongfully detained after the FBI learned in October of his arrest. The United States had designated them all as wrongfully detained.
Senior U.S. officials declined to reveal details about the other Americans released, but said the exchange meant that all Americans believed to be wrongly detained in Venezuela had been freed.
Mr. Wright’s family released a statement on Wednesday saying they were grateful to the Biden administration.
“These last few months have been some of the most difficult of our lives and we are relieved that this order is over,” the statement read. “We will be forever grateful.”
Isayen Herrera contributed reporting from Caracas, Venezuela.