Corker urges U.S., Venezuela to talk

SALT LAKE CITY — The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is urging engagement with Venezuela’s socialist government after he traveled to the South American nation to bring home a Utah man jailed for two years without a trial.

Joshua Holt was scheduled to return to Salt Lake City on Monday night after receiving medical care and visiting President Donald Trump in Washington. He was released over the weekend following secret, backchannel negotiations between members of the U.S. Congress and Venezuelan officials.

Republican U.S. Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee traveled to Caracas on Friday to seal the deal with President Nicolas Maduro that brought Holt home.

On Monday, Corker stressed that “nothing was asked, and nothing was given” in exchange for Holt’s freedom. But he said the 26-year-old’s release as a goodwill gesture by Maduro shows what can be achieved through dialogue with the United States’ adversaries.

“In my conversations privately, I could not be more strident in my criticisms of the way the Venezuela government has handled itself. I’ve seen in Venezuela people lined up outside grocery stores just to buy toilet paper,” Corker said.

But he contrasted the hardliner approach toward Venezuela favored by many in Washington with the Trump administration’s willingness to talk with North Korea’s leader.

The Trump administration considered Maduro’s re-election a “sham” after several of Maduro’s top opponents were barred from running. It said Holt’s release will have no change on U.S. policy.

Holt was arrested in June 2016 on weapons charges that he and his family say were bogus.

Corker declined to comment on bipartisan legislation before his committee that aims to further isolate Venezuela’s government. He said it’s important for the U.S. to continue to speak out against the “many, many bad things” the Maduro government has done.