US detainee handed over to Trump envoy in Antigua, Venezuela minister says

CARACAS/HOUSTON: A US citizen who had been detained in Venezuela was handed over to Richard Grenell, an envoy of US President Donald Trump, on the Caribbean island of Antigua, Venezuela Information Minister Freddy Nazareth Nanez said in a message to Reuters on Tuesday.

Nanez shared the information after being asked if a post by far-right US activist Laura Loomer – in which she named the previously detained American as Air Force veteran Joe St Clair and said he was en route to the United States with Grenell – was true.

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“Correct,” Nanez responded.

The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the White House.

Bloomberg reported earlier on Tuesday, citing a single, unnamed source, that Grenell had travelled to Antigua to meet with representatives of President Nicolas Maduro and negotiate the release of at least one US detainee.

The news outlet also said the US was set to extend the wind down period for a license allowing US oil company Chevron to operate in the country – set to expire on May 27 – by 60 days.

Two sources confirmed the Antigua meeting to Reuters, saying Grenell met with Jorge Rodriguez, the head of Venezuela’s ruling party-allied legislature, and that Grenell had offered the extension, which would need to be approved by the US Treasury Department and State Department.

Treasury did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the possible extension.

Grenell in January returned from a meeting with Maduro in Caracas with six American citizens, who had been held in Venezuela.