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President Donald Trump's envoy for peculiar missions, Richard Grenell, has traveled to Venezuela to present an in-person connection to socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro astir accepting convulsive criminals deported from the United States.
On a telephone with reporters Friday, Mauricio Claver-Carone, the U.S. peculiar envoy to Latin America, said Grenell volition archer Maduro to instrumentality backmost each the Venezuelan criminals and Tren de Aragua pack members that person been "exported to the United States, and to bash truthful unequivocally and without condition."
Grenell volition besides request that Veneuzeula instantly merchandise American hostages being held successful that country, Claver-Carone said.
The travel "focuses connected 2 precise circumstantial issues. That we expect that Venezuelan criminals and gangs volition beryllium returned, arsenic they are, to each state successful the world, without conditions, and two, that American hostages request to beryllium released immediately, unequivocally," helium explained.
"This is not a quid pro quo. It's not a dialog successful speech for anything. President Trump himself has made that precise clear."
White House property caput Karoline Leavitt confirmed Friday that Grenell had arrived successful Venezuela connected orders from the president.
Despite wide content among Venezuelans and overmuch of the planetary assemblage that Maduro mislaid the 2024 Venezuelan statesmanlike predetermination to absorption campaigner Edmundo González Urrutia, helium was sworn into his 3rd six-year word earlier this month.
The U.S. does not admit Maduro arsenic the morganatic caput of authorities of Venezuela.
Opposition person María Corina Machado has called connected Venezuelan citizens to protestation the Maduro authorities and request that González beryllium installed arsenic the rightful president of Venezuela.
As galore arsenic 10 Americans are presently detained successful Venezuela, though the State Department has not declared them wrongfully detained. Three are U.S. citizens who allegedly participated successful a crippled to destabilize the country, according to Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello.
The State Department has denied immoderate U.S. engagement with a crippled to overthrow Maduro.
It remains unclear however galore Americans are presently held successful Venezuela pursuing the important captive swap successful 2023 erstwhile Washington and Caracas negotiated the merchandise of dozens of prisoners, including 10 Americans, successful speech for Colombian businessman Alex Saab, a adjacent state of Maduro.
Saab was arrested during the archetypal Trump medication connected charges related to a $350 cardinal bribery scheme.
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