Ten American citizens detained in Venezuela arrived at the San Antonio Joint Base in the United States on Friday night (July 18) by plane as part of a prisoner swap agreement between the United States and Venezuela.
After the plane landed, some of the released individuals waved flags and rushed towards the welcoming crowd.
According to the Associated Press, the released individuals include 37-year-old Lucas Hunter. His family stated that he was kidnapped by Venezuelan border guards while on vacation in Colombia in January of this year.
“We can’t wait to see him with our own eyes and help him recover from this ordeal,” said his sister Sophie Hunter.
The prisoner exchange agreement between the United States and Venezuela was reached with the assistance of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele. Before returning to the United States on Friday night, the 10 released American hostages made a stop in El Salvador.
US Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Adam Boehler and Salvadoran President Bukele welcomed them at the Presidential Palace in San Salvador.
Boehler said, “President Bukele, what you and our President Trump, as well as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have done is to bring our ten American citizens back home, and for us, there is nothing more important in the world than that.”
“Thank you, thank you for being an extraordinary friend to our country,” Boehler added.
President Bukele said, “We have been in negotiations striving to secure the release of all of you (referring to the 10 American citizens) and also free 80 Venezuelan political prisoners. So, we made sure that 80 political prisoners and all detained American citizens were released.”
The US State Department’s Hostage Release Negotiation Office released a photo on social media platform X on Friday evening. In the photo, released Americans smile for the camera on an airplane, with a large American flag unfolded in the front row.
In exchange, El Salvador released 252 Venezuelan individuals earlier expelled from the United States and sent to prisons in El Salvador back to Venezuela. The US alleges that these individuals are members of the “Tren de Aragua” gang, but Venezuela’s Interior Minister denies this accusation.
The “Tren de Aragua” is a criminal organization involved in kidnapping, extortion, organized crime, and contract killings. The group has been designated by the US as a global terrorist organization.
On Friday night, the Venezuelan citizens released from Salvadoran prisons arrived near Caracas, where Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro celebrated their return, stating that Friday was a “perfect day” for Venezuela.