7 Americans detained in Venezuela return to their country 5:13
(CNN) --
On October 1, a prison guard in Venezuela woke up five of the so-called "Citgo 6" early;
he told them to "dress appropriately."
The men donned their yellow prison suits — “We call it our 'Minion' suit,” said José Pereira — before the prison warden told them to change into civilian clothes.
“We said, 'Why?'
and he said: 'Well, because they are going home,'” Pereira told CNN.
The day would mark the end of a "nightmare" that began nearly five years ago, when the six oil executives were lured to Venezuela for what they were told would be a business meeting just before Thanksgiving 2017.
In addition to securing the release of José Pereira, Jorge Toledo, Tomeu Vadell, Alirio Zambrano and José Luis Zambrano, the Biden administration would also bring home two other Americans who were also wrongfully detained, according to the US State Department — Matthew Heath and Osman Khan—as part of a prisoner exchange with the regime of embattled Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
advertising
Nearly five years to the day the plight of the "Citgo 6" began, CNN has learned new details about the extensive efforts that led to the release of the seven Americans and the day they were freed, as well as the pleas from the family of one of the at least four US citizens who remained there.
Two Americans, including a member of the "Citgo 6", are released from prison in Venezuela
Jorge Toledo greets his family upon returning to the United States after nearly five years in detention in Venezuela (Courtesy of Jorge Toledo)
This is how the final agreement for the release of the detainees was closed
The October prisoner swap came after months of back and forth between the US government, led by Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens, and the Maduro regime, with which the US it does not have formal diplomatic relations.
Carstens had brought home two Americans, the sixth member of the “Citgo 6,” Gustavo Cárdenas, as well as Cuban-American dual national Jorge Alberto Fernández, in March, but another trip in June ended without the release of a prisoner.
In late September, about a week before the trade, "we realized we might have an opportunity," Carstens said in an exclusive interview with CNN.
US President Joe Biden had signed the commutation of the sentences of Efraín Antonio Campo Flores and Francisco Flores de Freitas, the so-called "narco-nephews", who were sentenced in a US federal court in 2016 and sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2017 for conspiring to import cocaine into the United States.
With that key component needed for the prisoner exchange, the two sides "outlined what we think might be a good deal," Carstens said.
The so-called "Citgo 6" detained in Venezuela.
“Late Thursday night, around midnight, we solidified what would end up being the final agreement,” Carstens said.
The United States has plans for the recovery of detainees around the world, and on Friday Carstens' team quietly put the plan into motion for Venezuela.
On Friday night, Carstens flew commercially from Washington to meet the US government aircraft, and on Saturday morning he took off on a prisoner exchange mission with Campo Flores and Flores de Freitas, the two "narco- nephews” Venezuelans, in tow.
Cilia Flores' nephew appeals his sentence for drug trafficking to the US Supreme Court.
a short flight
Meanwhile, back in Venezuela that Saturday morning, the “Citgo 6” were skeptical about whether they were really going to return home.
"I've been through three house arrests in the five years and I wanted to make sure that the definition of home" was my definition, "because for me home is in the US, in Houston," Toledo told CNN.
The men were assured that they would be released, forced to fill out paperwork, handcuffed and put in an armored vehicle to the airport.
It was there that they saw, for the first time, the other two detainees, Heath and Khan.
The seven were put on a plane, Toledo recalled, and in addition to handcuffs, their feet were tied.
“They also wanted to cover our heads,” Toledo said, but after “a lot of rejection from everyone,” they were left with their heads uncovered.
After a short flight, the plane landed on the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Toledo and Pereira told CNN.
The 'Citgo 6' detained in Venezuela were captured by the country's forces hours after the extradition of Alex Saab to the US.
José Pereira stands in front of his image on a mural in Washington, on November 17, 2022. (Credit: Jennifer Hansler / CNN)
On board Carstens' plane, one of two planes sent for the mission, the team was finalizing the final details, such as the choreography of the exchange, and as is the case in every detainee exchange situation, going through contingency plans, although Carstens told CNN that he was confident that his Venezuelan interlocutor would comply with the agreement.
A few minutes after the Venezuelan plane carrying the detainees landed – also one of two planes – the first US government plane landed with Carstens and the two nephews on board.
“We did the planning and after that I was going over the plan in my head, trying to figure out if I missed anything, and then all of a sudden we landed,” Carstens recalled.
A member of the "Citgo 6" is released from prison in Venezuela 2:15
"We'll Take Them Back"
“I walked out, I met my interlocutor in the middle,” Carstens said.
The US envoy brought his Venezuelan counterpart on board to check on Campo Flores and Flores de Freitas before they were taken to a parked plane at the other end of the runway, with all seven Americans on board, for a head count.
“I got on the plane, and everyone was screaming and cheering and everyone was super excited,” Carstens recalled.
“I think I said something like, 'Hey guys, the President of the United States and Secretary Blinken have sent me to bring you home.
We'll take them back."
Shortly after the count, the Venezuelans crossed into their plane and the seven Americans crossed into theirs.
Matthew Heath, one of the Americans detained in Venezuela, attempted suicide, according to his family
In the photo, a group of seven Americans with their families and officials upon returning to the United States after being detained in Venezuela. (Credit: Courtesy of Jorge Toledo)
“It was like any movie where you know the prisoner exchange happens.
I saw the two individuals walking towards the plane with the Venezuelan ID and then we jumped on the US plane,” Toledo said.
"I didn't know if I was experiencing a real life situation or was part of a Netflix movie."
“Every time someone walked by, we would give them a big hug, a big kiss,” Carstens said.
The second US plane, which had more medical equipment on board, landed about 45 minutes later after a storm delayed it, giving US officials time to inform the newly detained released on what to expect in the coming hours, days and weeks, the envoy told CNN.
“Just before the planes took off, we got word that the president had called the families,” Carstens said.
Once on the air, State Department officials lent the men their phones so they could call their families, whom Biden had informed of their release.
“At first it was very difficult to talk to my wife because she was crying.
She couldn't articulate a word,” Toledo said.
When they landed in Texas, many of their relatives were there waiting for them.
The reunion was "a magical moment," both Pereira and Toledo told CNN.
Return to a world that has changed completely
While in Texas, the men underwent a Defense Department program known as PISA (Post Isolation Support Activities) aimed at acclimating them to normal life.
Unsurprisingly, after nearly five years away from home, the adjustment has been challenging.
In addition to the physical, mental and financial cost of their detention, countless family moments have been lost.
Jorge Toledo with his dog after returning to the United States. (Courtesy Jorge Toledo)
"I basically met my two granddaughters for the first time, almost the first time," Toledo, who used to be a marathon runner and is now trying to get in shape for the Houston Half Marathon in January, told CNN.
Pereira said he is “scared to drive” because he has been away from the wheel for so long, but he is eager to make Thanksgiving, which once marked the grim milestone of his arrest, a happy occasion again.
“This is something I would never want to happen, not even to my worst enemy.
Because it is very difficult to return to a world that has totally changed,” said Pereira.
"This has been like a bomb in my life."
For some detainees in Venezuela, the nightmare continues
For at least four Americans, however, the nightmare continues.
Luke Denman, Airan Berry, Jerrel Kenemore and Eyvin Hernandez are all detained in Venezuela;
Hernandez and Kenemore were recently designated as wrongfully detained by the US State Department.
Carstens, the special envoy, told CNN that the United States has "an ongoing conversation with the other side."
“So even though we have work to do, I feel optimistic,” he said.
Family and friends of Hernández, who has been detained since late March, want to see him released faster.
They met last week in Washington, to meet with administration and congressional officials, relatives of wrongful detainees, as well as Pereira and his wife, and to ask for help.
Eyvin Hernández, detained in Venezuela since late March, is seen in this undated photo. (Courtesy of Henry Martinez)
“He doesn't deserve to be there.
We need to take him home,” his father, Pedro Martinez, tearfully told CNN, adding that his daughter sounded “very weak” on a recent call.
The family shared with the White House a secretly recorded plea to Biden from Hernández himself, sent to his brother in August.
“I have dedicated myself to public service for more than 15 years.
I have dedicated myself to helping poor and working class people on the basis that no matter what mistakes a person makes, they should always be treated fairly, humanely, with dignity and respect,” said Hernández, an employee of the Los Angeles County Public Department.
"Furthermore, no one should be abandoned at the time of greatest need or when they are most vulnerable."
“However, I don't feel that my government feels the same way about me,” Hernández said.
citgo