Another American wrongfully held in a foreign jail has come home. This time the hostage is Joshua Holt who went to Venezuela about two years ago to get married to a woman he had met online. He stayed there for a while and then was arrested by the police as a spy. They claimed that he was working for the CIA and stockpiling weapons for use by anti-Maduro rebels who wanted to stage an uprising to overthrow the government. Holt says, however, that the police told him that unless he paid a rather large bribe, they would frame him and arrest him. When he refused, the police planted weapons and arrested him. Needless to say, the US government says that Holt is not and was never a spy or an agent of the CIA.
Tennessee senator Bob Corker and his staff have been working on negotiating the release of Holt for many months. Corker actually went down to Caracas to pick up Holt and bring him and his wife (who was also arrested) back to the USA. It seems, however, that what finally motivated the Maduro government to release their hostage was the threat by President Trump to impose more sanctions on Venezuela as a result of the sham presidential election that Maduro just held. Only about 20% of the people came out to vote, but Maduro won overwhelmingly. Surprise! The threatened sanctions would ban importation of oil from Venezuela, a staggering blow to the little bit of the economy that remains in this "socialist heaven" in which the average person has lost 25 pounds due to famine in the last two years. Maduro understands that even with his secret police, his regime will not be able to withstand much more bad news for the Venezuelans.
No matter the reason for Holt's release, it is wonderful that he is finally home. One thing is clear: president Obama did not bother himself with trying to get wrongfully imprisoned American citizens back home. President Trump obviously has changed that. No one could reasonably think that this is a bad change, not even the most strident members of the #Resistance.
Tennessee senator Bob Corker and his staff have been working on negotiating the release of Holt for many months. Corker actually went down to Caracas to pick up Holt and bring him and his wife (who was also arrested) back to the USA. It seems, however, that what finally motivated the Maduro government to release their hostage was the threat by President Trump to impose more sanctions on Venezuela as a result of the sham presidential election that Maduro just held. Only about 20% of the people came out to vote, but Maduro won overwhelmingly. Surprise! The threatened sanctions would ban importation of oil from Venezuela, a staggering blow to the little bit of the economy that remains in this "socialist heaven" in which the average person has lost 25 pounds due to famine in the last two years. Maduro understands that even with his secret police, his regime will not be able to withstand much more bad news for the Venezuelans.
No matter the reason for Holt's release, it is wonderful that he is finally home. One thing is clear: president Obama did not bother himself with trying to get wrongfully imprisoned American citizens back home. President Trump obviously has changed that. No one could reasonably think that this is a bad change, not even the most strident members of the #Resistance.
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