WASHINGTON — President Trump announced Saturday morning that an American who had been imprisoned in Venezuela for two years without a trial is on his way home to the United States and will be reunited with his family at the White House Saturday evening.
Mr. Trump made the announcement about Joshua Holt, the Utah man who has been in a Caracas jail since 2016, on Twitter, calling him a “hostage,” and saying the release will make the people of Utah happy.
Mr. Holt, 26, had traveled to Utah in 2016 to marry a woman he met on the internet. But he was arrested shortly after and accused by the socialist government in Venezuela of stockpiling weapons.
In a statement posted to Twitter, Senator Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah, said that Mr. Holt’s release, and that of his wife, was the result of a two-year effort working with Mr. Trump and former President Barack Obama, and Nicolás Maduro, the president of Venezuela.
“I could not be more honored to be able to reunite Josh with his sweet, long-suffering family in Riverton,” Mr. Hatch said in the statement.
Mr. Hatch also thanked Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, a Republican and chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, who met with Mr. Maduro on Friday.
Mr. Holt’s release also comes just days after he posted two short videos to Facebook pleading for the United States government to help him. In one video, he said: “I’ve been begging my government for two years. They say they’re doing things but I’m still here.”
Source : Nytimes
