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8h ago

Uncoordinated U.S. Diplomacy Halts Venezuela Prisoner Exchange

Separate U.S. negotiation tracks led by Marco Rubio or Richard Grenell failed to align migrant swaps with Chevron license extensions, resulting in prolonged detentions of U.S. citizens alongside Venezuelan migrants.

FILE — Petra Castañeda, whose son, Wilbert Castañeda, a Navy SEAL, has been detained in Venezuela for months, at Lake Murray in San Diego, Calif., Jan. 7, 2025. Castañeda’s son, Wilbert Castañeda, a Navy SEAL, has been detained in Venezuela since August, 2024. (Ariana Drehsler/The New York Times)
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Overview

  • Two separate U.S. negotiation tracks engaged the same Venezuelan assembly leader, each proposing different terms for the release of Americans detained in Venezuela.
  • Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s team offered to repatriate about 250 deported Venezuelan migrants from El Salvador in exchange for U.S. detainees and political prisoners.
  • Special envoy Richard Grenell concurrently proposed extending Chevron’s Venezuela oil license to secure the release of the same American prisoners.
  • The uncoordinated efforts failed to produce an agreement, leaving U.S. citizens held in Venezuela and migrants detained in El Salvador.
  • Despite ongoing assertions that the migrant swap remains available, Grenell has publicly dismissed reports of competing deals as bogus.