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Venezuela releases 2 American prisoners after US visit

The U.S. had banned Venezuelan oil imports in 2019 over accusations authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro conducted an illegitimate election

Brie Stimson By Brie Stimson Fox News
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Venezuela released at least two Americans from prison Tuesday after U.S. officials from the White House and State Department made a high-level visit to the country over the weekend, according to reports. 

Gustavo Cardenas was one of six U.S.-based Citgo Petroleum executives arrested in 2017 and convicted on charges the U.S. said were made up. Jorge Alberto Fernández, a tourist, was accused of terrorism because he brought a drone into Venezuela, according to Reuters.

Last weekend marked the highest-level visit from U.S. officials to the country in years. In 2019, the Trump administration banned Venezuelan oil imports over allegations by the West that authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro had conducted an illegitimate election. 

The prisoner release came on the same day President Biden said the U.S. plans to ban imports of Russian oil, natural gas, and coal. Venezuelan oil could help offset the loss of Russian imports but U.S. officials said the release of the Americans was not part of any deal, but rather an apparent goodwill gesture. 

Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela's president, delivers a State of the Union address at the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022. (Gaby Oraa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In a speech last Thursday, Maduro said, "Here lies the oil of Venezuela, which is available for whomever wants to produce and buy it, be it an investor from Asia, Europe or the United States." 

BIDEN DECISION TO BAN RUSSIAN OIL ‘UNDERMINED’ BY ‘FLIRTING’ WITH IRAN, VENEZUELA, CONGRESSMAN SAYS

Venezuela is a Russian ally, and Moscow came to the Latin American country’s financial aid when the U.S. banned its oil imports. The U.S. trip was partially meant to capitalize on Russia’s sanction-weakened economy and help pull Venezuela further away from Putin’s influence, according to the New York Times. 

President Joe Biden announced a ban on Russian oil imports, toughening the toll on Russia's economy in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine, Tuesday, March 8, 2022, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

The U.S. is also seeking the release of the five other Citgo employees and three U.S. veterans, according to the Times. 

"These men are fathers who lost precious time with their children and everyone they love, and their families have suffered every day of their absence," Biden said Tuesday of the release, according to Reuters. "We also remember the names and the stories of every American who is being unjustly held against their will — in Venezuela, in Russia, in Afghanistan, Syria, China, Iran and elsewhere around the world."

The visit wasn’t without criticism, however. 

Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.Y., and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called Maduro a "cancer to our hemisphere" and said, "We should not breathe new life into his reign of torture and murder," according to Reuters. 

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Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., told Fox News in an email, "The commonsense decision by the Biden Administration to ban imports of Russian oil is undermined by their flirting with instead seeking imports from pariah nations like Iran and Venezuela." 

In this photo released by Miraflores Press Office, Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro gestures after he casts his ballot as he votes for a constitutional assembly in Caracas, Venezuela on Sunday, July 30, 2017. Maduro asked for global acceptance on Sunday as he cast an unusual pre-dawn vote for an all-powerful constitutional assembly that his opponents fear he'll use to replace Venezuelan democracy with a single-party authoritarian system. (Miraflores Press Office via AP)

In this photo released by Miraflores Press Office, Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro gestures after he casts his ballot as he votes for a constitutional assembly in Caracas, Venezuela on Sunday, July 30, 2017.  (Miraflores Press Office via AP)

Rep. Alexandria Oscaio-Cortez told Fox News that turning to Venezuela or Iran for oil was a mistake. "None of these options are good ones because of our dependency on oil," she said. 

"I think this is the deal with fossil fuels in general is that it's not an accident that oil-rich states tend to be petro-authoritarian states," she said, adding that while she understands there are short-term supply issues, the U.S. should refocus on investments in solar and wind.