Number of Americans detained in Venezuela rises amid President Maduro’s pressure

The variety of U.S. residents arrested and detained in Venezuela has elevated in current months, in response to a brand new report.

A number of Individuals have been arrested by Venezuelan safety forces because the Trump administration steps up efforts to isolate President Nicolás Maduro, together with imposing sanctions and an expanded navy presence within the Caribbean. The New York Times reports this.

A U.S. official acquainted with the matter, talking on situation of anonymity, stated that whereas some detainees face what Venezuelan authorities describe as respectable legal expenses, Washington is contemplating designating at the least two Individuals as “wrongfully detained.”

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Venezuelan chief Nicolás Maduro brandishes a sword reportedly belonging to independence hero Simón Bolívar throughout a civil-military occasion on the navy academy in Caracas, Venezuela, November 25, 2025. (Ariana Cubillos/AP Photograph)

This might velocity up diplomatic efforts to safe their launch.

These arrested embrace three Venezuelan-American twin nationals and two U.S. residents with no recognized ties to Venezuela, the official instructed the newspaper.

Maduro’s authorities has lengthy been accused by US officers and critics of utilizing detained foreigners as leverage in negotiations with the US.

President Trump has made the discharge of Individuals detained overseas a precedence throughout each of his presidencies. Throughout his first time period, he pursued a marketing campaign of most strain towards Maduro.

Upon his return to workplace in January, Trump additionally despatched envoy Richard Grenell to Caracas to push for a prisoner deal.

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Joseph St. Clair has been launched by the Venezuelan authorities, his household stated Tuesday. (Courtesy of the St. Clair household)

Grenell met personally with Maduro and was tasked with securing the return of detained Individuals, asserting he would deliver six captured Individuals dwelling. Reuters.

In Might, Venezuela additionally launched a U.S. Air Pressure veteran who had been held for about six months.

Joseph St Clair, who served in Afghanistan, had traveled to South America for remedy for PTSD.

In July, as reported by Fox Information Digital, one other 10 Individuals and everlasting U.S. residents had been launched following a prisoner swap that additionally noticed greater than 250 Venezuelans held in El Salvador return dwelling. The US Department of State confirmed that launch on July 18, 2025.

“Our dedication to the American individuals is obvious: We’ll shield the well-being of Americans at dwelling and overseas and won’t relaxation till all Individuals held hostage or unjustly detained all over the world are introduced dwelling,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on the time.

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Nicolas Maduro and Marco Rubio (Fox Information)

That diplomatic push led to talks between U.S. and Venezuelan officers and resulted within the launch of at the least sixteen U.S. residents and everlasting residents by mid-2025.

These negotiations had been later placed on maintain as the federal government turned to broader strain.

The US started increasing sanctions enforcement, redeploying naval belongings to the Caribbean and stepping up operations towards ships allegedly linked to drug trafficking networks linked to Maduro’s regime.

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The USS Iwo Jima is docked on a chilly winter morning. (Getty Photographs)

The New York Instances reported Wednesday that among the many Individuals presently reported lacking is 28-year-old James Luckey-Lange of Staten Island, New York, who went lacking after crossing Venezuela’s southern border in early December.

Luckey-Lange is the son of musician Diane Luckey, higher often known as Q Lazzarus.

One other former prisoner, Renzo Huamanchomo Castillo, a Peruvian-American, instructed the newspaper that he was arrested final yr and charged with terrorism and plotting to kill Maduro.

“We realized afterwards that I used to be only a token,” he stated. He was launched within the July prisoner trade after months of harsh detention.

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At the least two others with U.S. ties are imprisoned, in response to their households: Aidel Suarez, a U.S. everlasting resident born in Cuba, and Jonathan Torres Duque, a Venezuelan-American, in response to reporting by The New York Instances.

The precise variety of newly arrested Individuals has not been made public by US officers.

Fox Information Digital has contacted the State Division for remark.