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Reuters
WASHINGTON
The Venezuelan government on Saturday released an American, Josh Holt, whom it has held since 2016 on weapons charges, US President Donald Trump and Utah Senator Orrin Hatch announced separately on Twitter.
The release of Holt, a Mormon missionary from Utah, comes despite deepening US-Venezuelan tensions that in the last week saw tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats, Washington's refusal to recognize the May 19 re-election of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and the imposition of new US sanctions on Caracas. Holt was expected to arrive in Washington on Saturday evening, Trump said.
Hatch issued a statement on Twitter saying Holt's release followed two years of lobbying and that Holt's wife Thamy would be accompanying him home.
"Over the past two years I've worked with two presidential administrations, countless diplomatic contacts, ambassadors all over the world, a network of contacts in Venezuela and President Maduro himself, and I could not be more honored to be able to reunite Josh with his sweet, long-suffering family,"Hatch said in a statement.
