Jan. 14 (UPI) — Venezuela’s interim government has freed several jailed Americans, according to reports, the first known release of American detainees since the United States detained former leader Nicolas Maduro in a clandestine military raid early this month.
“We welcome the release of detained Americans in Venezuela,” the State Department said in a statement reported by The New York Times, CNN and ABC News.
“This is an important step in the right direction by the interim authorities.”
It was unclear how many Americans were released, though officials familiar with the situation told some outlets that several were freed.
The Trump administration has been calling for the release of all detained Americans in the South American nation.
The release comes less than a week after Venezuela’s interim government began to free Venezuelan and foreign political prisoners, and less than two weeks after the U.S. military detained Maduro.
On Sunday, President Donald Trump celebrated the release, stating the process of freeing all political prisoners in Venezuela had started “in a BIG WAY.”
“I hope those prisoners will remember how lucky they got that the USA came along and did what had to be done,” he said in a post to his Truth Social platform.
“I HOPE THEY NEVER FORGET!”
As of Sunday, there were more than 800 political prisoners in Venezuela, according to the website of Venezuelan human rights group Foro Penal.
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