During the Trump administration, then-Secretary of State Marco Rubio was overseeing negotiations aimed at securing the release of several American citizens and dozens of political prisoners held in Venezuela. The proposed deal involved exchanging these detainees for approximately 250 Venezuelan migrants deported by the United States to El Salvador.
However, this agreement ultimately failed to materialize.
One reason for the breakdown was that the US special envoy to Venezuela was pursuing a separate deal, offering Venezuela more favorable terms. His proposal included allowing Chevron to continue its oil operations in Venezuela, a critical revenue source for the country's authoritarian government, in exchange for the release of American prisoners.
The negotiations, which involved freeing around 80 Venezuelan political prisoners, unfolded as two distinct efforts, according to US officials and individuals familiar with the talks who requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the matter.
The State Department never finalized the deal. Senior US officials appeared disconnected and ended up at odds. Meanwhile, the roughly 250 Venezuelans deported to El Salvador remain confined in a maximum-security prison there. It became apparent that although the Trump White House claimed no control over the detainees in El Salvador, it was willing to use them as leverage.
Both US channels—one managed by Rubio and the other led by envoy Richard Grenell—involved communications with the same Venezuelan official, Jorge Rodríguez, the president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, according to sources familiar with the discussions.
These conflicting diplomatic efforts exposed internal divisions over how to handle Venezuela, reflecting the chaotic environment characteristic of Trump’s first term when rival officials vied for influence. This lack of coordination left Venezuelan officials uncertain about who truly represented Trump, ultimately resulting in the continued imprisonment of both Americans and Venezuelans.
One US official indicated that the offer to exchange Venezuelan migrants held in El Salvador for prisoners remains on the table. However, the White House is currently unwilling to extend Chevron’s license to operate in Venezuela.
Grenell declined to be interviewed but disputed reports about the agreements in an email, calling them inaccurate.
A close associate of Grenell, knowledgeable about the Venezuela talks, said Grenell did not believe a swap involving the Venezuelan migrants would happen, as he thought the former president would never approve releasing gang members facing charges. This source spoke anonymously due to the sensitivity of ongoing negotiations.
White House representatives denied any tensions among the diplomats involved.
“There are no factions or divisions,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in a statement. “The president has one team, and everyone knows he makes the final decisions.”
The US government has paid millions to El Salvador to detain migrants, whom the Trump administration alleges are members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and who it claims intended to commit crimes in the United States.
However, the Trump administration has provided limited evidence to support these claims, and the migrants’ lawyers argue that their detentions are unlawful and lacked due process.
Negotiations led by the State Department and John McNamara, chargé d'affaires at the US embassy in Bogotá who also oversees Venezuelan affairs, had progressed to the point that by May, Venezuela was prepared to send a state plane to El Salvador to retrieve the detained migrants.
Simultaneously, the US planned to dispatch a deportation aircraft to Caracas to collect political prisoners and American detainees. McNamara was expected to travel to Caracas to oversee the transfer.
The Venezuelan political prisoners, many arrested while protesting fraudulent elections last year, were reportedly offered the choice to remain in Venezuela or relocate to El Salvador.
The exchange would have included various individuals who protested the 2024 Venezuelan election results, such as a man jailed for criticizing President Nicolás Maduro on TikTok and a former mayor arrested in August.
The agreement aimed to free 11 American citizens, including Lucas Hunter, detained in January, and Jonathan Pagán González, detained the previous year.
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele first hinted at such a deal in late April, suggesting on social media that a “humanitarian agreement” could exchange all Venezuelan migrants for Americans held by Venezuela and some Venezuelan detainees. Venezuelan officials publicly rejected the proposal at the time, demanding the return of their “kidnapped” nationals.
While Rubio and McNamara concentrated on the prisoner swap, Grenell pursued his own deal. Before presenting it to Venezuelan officials, Grenell spoke with then-President Trump and believed he had his backing. However, according to US sources, Grenell had not received the president’s final approval.
The White House was already aware of pressure from a group of Cuban-American Republicans from Florida who threatened to withhold support for Trump’s fiscal and domestic policy bill if sanctions on Venezuelan oil were eased. Trump’s aides feared that allowing Chevron to export Venezuelan oil would jeopardize the administration’s domestic agenda. With the bill now passed, it remains uncertain whether officials will reconsider Chevron’s license.
The State Department-backed exchange was scheduled for late May. That same month, Grenell traveled to Venezuela on another mission that secured the release of Joseph St. Clair, a US Air Force veteran detained there.
Despite some viewing Grenell as a valuable asset, others believe he acted hastily and without sufficient coordination during this episode.
According to a source close to Grenell, he was surprised to learn about the swap and is considered the sole authorized negotiator for any deal with Venezuela. Since that incident, Rubio has taken the lead in talks with Venezuelan officials.
Neither the Venezuelan nor Salvadoran governments responded to requests for comment.
Families of some Americans detained in Venezuela expressed frustration over the unsuccessful efforts to secure their release.
Petra Castañeda, whose 37-year-old son Wilbert Castañeda, a Navy SEAL, was detained last year in Venezuela, said, “It felt like there were multiple people negotiating but not working together: one negotiator said one thing, and another said something different.” She added, “You’d think they would be properly coordinated.”
During Trump’s first term, US authorities tried to oust Maduro through sanctions, diplomatic isolation, and backing a young opposition legislator as an alternative president. Rubio and other Cuban-American Republicans continue to support sanctions and an isolationist approach.
However, in the second term, Grenell showed willingness to engage with the Venezuelan government. He made his first trip to Caracas in January, securing the release of several Americans.
For about the past year, the Maduro administration has increasingly detained foreigners within Venezuela to leverage them in negotiations with other governments, according to security analysts and human rights groups.
Foro Penal, a civil association providing pro bono legal aid to arbitrarily detained individuals, reports that there are currently 85 foreign nationals unjustly held in Venezuela—the highest number ever recorded by the organization.
Although Grenell secured the release of six Americans in January and St. Clair in May, many more US citizens and permanent residents remain in Venezuelan custody or have been recently detained.
The deal the State Department had been preparing included stern warnings of serious consequences should additional prisoners be detained after the exchange, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.
Jetzy Arteaga, whose son Carlos Cañizales Arteaga has been detained in El Salvador since March after migrating to North Carolina, expressed hope that the agreement might be revived.
“At first, when we heard our children were being used as bargaining chips, it was very upsetting,” said Cañizales Arteaga. “Our children are not pawns. But now we realize there is no other option.”
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