Venezuela frees six US citizens after Trump's envoy meets President Maduro

Six Americans who had been detained in Venezuela in recent months were freed by the government of President Nicolás Maduro after he met Friday with a Trump administration official.

The envoy, Richard Grenell, is a Trump administration official who has been tasked with urging the authoritarian leader to take back deported migrants who have committed crimes in the United States.

The visit by Grenell came as a shock to many Venezuelans who hoped that Trump would continue the “maximum pressure” campaign he pursued against Maduro during his first term.

Grenell’s hours long trip to Venezuela, according to the White House, was focused on Trump’s efforts to deport Venezuelans back to their home country, which currently does not accept them, and on the release of the detained Americans.

President Trump and Grenell announced the release of the six men on social media.

The meeting in Venezuela's capital took place less than a month after Maduro was sworn in for a third six-year term, despite credible evidence that he lost last year's election. The U.S. government, along with several other Western nations, does not recognise Maduro's claim to victory and instead points to tally sheets collected by the opposition coalition showing that its candidate, Edmundo González, won by a more than a two-to-one margin.

Venezuelan state television aired footage of Grenell and Maduro speaking in the Miraflores Palace and said the meeting had been requested by the U.S. government.

Signing an executive order in the Oval Office on Friday, Trump was asked if Grenell being filmed meeting with Maduro lent legitimacy to a government that the Trump White House does not officially recognise.

“No. We want to do something with Venezuela. I’ve been a very big