WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Veteran US diplomat Bill Richardson was unable to secure the release of US citizens detained in Venezuela during his visit to the country, his foundation said in a statement Thursday night.
FILE PHOTO: US diplomatic troubleshooter Bill Richardson speaks to the media upon arrival at Beijing Airport from North Korea in Beijing on December 21, 2010. REUTERS / Jason Lee (CHINA / Stock Photo
On his trip to Venezuela, which he called a private humanitarian mission conducted at the request of “several families of American prisoners,” Richardson met with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and with the Vice President of Venezuela.
“I am pleased to have been able to meet with President Maduro to discuss the possible release of American prisoners and other humanitarian issues from COVID-19,” Richardson said in the statement.
“We regret that we were unable to secure the release of the Americans. Our thoughts go out to the families of the 6 Citgo executives: Tomeu Vadell, Alirio Zambrano, José Luis Zambrano, Gustavo Cárdenas, Jorge Toledo and José Ángel Pereira, as well as former Green Berets Luke Denman and Airan Berry, ”he added.
Former U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers were arrested in May for leading a failed raid attempt aimed at capturing Maduro.
Citgo executives have been jailed since 2017 on allegations of embezzlement, which the US government and attorneys for the executives have said are without merit.
In a statement, Elliott Abrams, Washington’s special envoy to Venezuela, harshly criticized the executives’ imprisonment and called for their release.
“The State Department will continue our efforts to release them until the day they are released,” Abrams said.
The Trump administration has tried to expel Maduro by imposing sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector and supporting opposition leader Juan Guaidó, but Maduro has maintained government control and exercised the security forces against his opponents.
Richardson, who served as the United States’ ambassador to the United Nations during the Clinton administration, was previously involved in securing the freedom of detention for American missionary Joshua Holt in 2018.
Reports by Makini Brice and Matt Spetalnick; Steve Orlofsky and Jonathan Oatis edition
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