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Richard Grenell, President Donald Trump’s envoy for special missions, announced on Tuesday the release of Air Force veteran Joseph St. Clair from a Venezuelan prison.
Grenell traveled covertly to Antigua on Tuesday morning to meet with Venezuelan representatives to negotiate St. Clair’s freedom. The U.S. government had maintained that St. Clair, 33, was wrongfully detained by Venezuelan authorities during a trip along the Colombia-Venezuela border last fall.
“We just made it back,” Grenell said during a phone interview on “The Record With Greta Van Susteren,” calling from Washington Dulles International Airport.
“We went early this morning to a third country, a neutral country. And I met with Venezuelan officials. We’ve been negotiating. We have around six Americans who are held against their will. And we got one of them home. And so, we just returned to Washington and are very excited to welcome Joe back home in the land of the free,” Grenell added.
St. Clair reportedly completed four tours in Afghanistan before pursuing alternative PTSD treatment in Costa Rica after graduating from law school. He later relocated to Colombia, where he taught at a language school.
In October, St. Clair and a Colombian friend were traveling as tourists near the Venezuelan border when authorities arrested them. St. Clair was imprisoned in a Venezuelan facility known for human rights abuses and harsh conditions.
“He’s extremely excited to be back home,” Grenell said. “He’s a very smart kid. He is passionate about making sure that people understand that to be an American is a really special thing.”
His parents also released a brief statement following the news of their son’s release from prison and return to the U.S.
“This news came suddenly, and we are still processing it, but we are overwhelmed with joy and gratitude,” Scott and Patti St. Clair said in a statement.
The news follows the release of six American hostages from Venezuela in February.
“It is so good to have the Venezuela Hostages back home and, very important to note, that Venezuela has agreed to receive, back into their Country, all Venezuela illegal aliens who were encamped in the U.S., including gang members of Tren de Aragua,” Trump wrote at the time.
