Trump says Venezuela frees US missionary

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump announced yesterday that Venezuela has released American Joshua Holt after nearly two years in jail in the leftist-ruled country. Trump, in a tweet, did not identify Holt by name but Utah Senator Orrin Hatch confirmed that the Utah resident had been freed. “Good news about the release of the American hostage from Venezuela,” Trump tweeted. “Should be landing in DC this evening and be in the White House, with his family, at about 7:00 PM The great people of Utah will be very happy!”

Holt’s release came after Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, met in Caracas Friday with President Nicolas Maduro. Senator Hatch said Holt was on his way to the United States and praised Corker’s “pivotal efforts”. Hatch issued a statement saying the release was the culmination of two years of hard work 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.

Holt, a Mormon, was being held at a prison in Caracas known as the Helicoide where political prisoners are held by the Venezuelan intelligence service Sebin. He was arrested shortly after arriving in Venezuela nearly two years ago. He surfaced in a video calling on the US government to help get him out during a prison protest earlier this month by jailed opposition activists. On Friday, the government released 20 jailed activists held in the western state of Zulia amid moves by Maduro to ease domestic tensions. Maduro was re-elected to a six-year term in controversial elections May 20 that were boycotted by most opposition parties and rejected as illegitimate by the United States and other countries.