CARACAS, Venezuela — A senior Trump administration official has traveled to Venezuela to urge President Nicolás Maduro’s government to take back deported migrants who’ve committed crimes in the U.S. and release a handful of imprisoned Americans, a U.S. official said Friday.
The visit by Richard Grenell, who U.S. President Donald Trump appointed as an envoy for special missions, may come as a surprise to some Venezuelans who hoped that Trump would continue the “maximum pressure” campaign he pursued against the authoritarian Venezuelan leader during his first term.
Mauricio Claver-Carone, Trump’s special envoy to Latin America, confirmed Grenell’s visit to Caracas in a conference call with journalists on Friday.
He said Grenell, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Germany and acting director of national intelligence during the first Trump administration, was in Venezuela on a “very specific mission” that in no way detracts from the Trump administration’s goal of restoring democracy in the South American nation.
“I would urge the Maduro government, the Maduro regime in Venezuela, to heed special envoy Ric Grenell’s message,” said Claver-Carone, himself a former top national security aide to Trump during his first administration. “Ultimately there will be consequences otherwise.”
The visit comes 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 by a more than 2-to-1 margin. The U.S. government, along with several other Western nations, does not recognize Maduro’s claim to victory.
Electoral authorities loyal to the ruling party declared Maduro the winner of the July election hours after polls closed without providing detailed vote counts, unlike in previous elections.
Meanwhile, the country’s main opposition coalition collected tally sheets from 85% of electronic voting machines showing that its candidate, Edmundo González, won by a more than a two-to-one margin.
Spokespeople for González and his campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Grenell’s visit.
The dispute over the election results sparked nationwide protests. More than 2,200 people were arrested during and after the demonstrations.
Among those detained are as many as 10 Americans who the government has linked to alleged plots to de-stabilize the country. One of them is a Navy SEAL.