Utah man, wife freed from Venezuela prison
American returns to U.S. after nearly 2 years behind bars
WASHINGTON — A Utah man who was imprisoned in Venezuela and languished for nearly two years arrived in Washington on Saturday afternoon after his release from a Caracas prison.
The family of Joshua Holt announced his release in a statement, and President Donald Trump later confirmed it on Twitter.
Holt arrived Saturday night at Washington Dulles International Airport.
Trump, in a tweet, described Holt as a “hostage” and said he expected to host him and his family Saturday night at the White House. “Good news about the release,” he wrote.
The United States contended Holt was held on trumped up charges.
The Holt family, in a statement, asked for privacy. “We are grateful to all who participated in this miracle,” the family said. “We thank you for your collaboration during this time of anguish.”
Holt’s wife, Thamara Caleno, who is Venezuelan, was detained with Holt when he traveled to Venezuela for their wedding. The Mormon missionary and his wife had planned to spend the summer of 2016 in Caracas while awaiting U.S. visas for Caleno and her children. He was arrested on weapons charges but never tried.
The two were arrested just days after their marriage when the apartment they were sharing with her children was raided. The police said they found a hand grenade and automatic weapons at the home, but witnesses to the arrest told the Miami Herald that the evidence had been planted.
Holt’s mother, Laurie Holt, said her son had various ailments while in jail and lost considerable weight.
Holt’s relatives pressed his case insistently, and although U.S. officials initially kept a low profile, they eventually became more vocal in demanding his release.
But talks with the socialist Venezuelan government were complicated by diplomatic tensions and Venezuela’s social and economic crisis.
Holt was freed weeks after he made a chilling, clandestine video begging for help and saying his life was in danger because of deadly riots and fires in several Venezuelan prisons.
Also advocating for Holt was Sen. Bob Corker, RTenn., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who traveled to Caracas and met with President Nicolas Maduro on Friday.
Just days earlier, Maduro had expelled the top two U.S. diplomats in Venezuela, accusing them of plotting to sabotage last Sunday’s presidential election. Maduro blames much of the humanitarian disaster gripping his once oil-rich nation on foreign interference.
Maduro won the election
handily. The United States and several Latin American countries condemned the election as a sham because most of Maduro’s key opponents were jailed and his loyalists control most of the media, the courts and all major government institutions that oversee elections.
Washington and Caracas have not exchanged ambassadors since 2010. The Trump and Obama administrations have imposed numerous economic sanctions on the Maduro government, accusing many senior officials of enriching themselves through drug trafficking and money laundering.
However, there have been intermittent efforts over the past several years to reduce tensions between the two countries and find ways for peaceful political changes in Venezuela. In addition, at least as long ago as March, back-channel talks had opened between U.S. congressional advisers and Venezuelan officials to discuss, among other issues, freeing Holt.
On May 17, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert again demanded Holt’s release and said the administration held the Maduro government responsible for his safety. Francisco Palmieri, acting assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, conveyed a similar message to Venezuelan officials in Washington.
Laurie Holt and U.S. officials insisted that Joshua Holt and his wife were innocent, perhaps victims of the suspicion with which many Venezuelan officials regard Americans.
“We are grateful to all who participated in this miracle.” — Statement from the Holt family