Venezuela's Maduro frees Americans and welcomes jailed deportees amid swap

Bloomberg News on Jul 18, 2025

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Venezuela released 10 Americans as it prepares to receive a group of deportees freed from jail in El Salvador after an unexpected breakthrough in ongoing talks with the United States.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the formerly detained Americans were “on their way to freedom” on Friday and thanked El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele for his help to secure their release. Rubio also said Venezuelan political prisoners were released, without adding details.

Roughly 250 Venezuelans, deported by the U.S. to El Salvador in March, are set to arrive in Caracas later Friday, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified to avoid reprisals.

Their return had been a long-standing demand of President Nicolás Maduro and his top officials. Bukele’s government had publicly stated it had no legal jurisdiction over the deportees, effectively paving the way for Venezuelan and U.S. negotiators to seal the deal.

Venezuela’s sovereign bonds rose across the curve, with notes maturing in 2034 gaining 0.5 cents on the dollar to trade at around 23 cents, the highest levels in almost two months, according to indicative pricing data compiled by Bloomberg.

As part of the negotiations, seven children who had been separated from their parents amid deportations also arrived in Caracas on Friday. Maduro was shown welcoming the kids and their families at the presidential palace on state TV.

Their return signals that conversations between Venezuela and the U.S. have continued, even after President Donald Trump’s administration banned Chevron Corp. from doing anything more than essential maintenance in the South American nation in late May. That cut off a major contributor to the country’s economy, which in recent years supplied nearly a quarter of its oil output and brought a much-needed flow of dollars into its banking system.

“This operation is the result of months of negotiations with a tyrannical regime that had long refused to release one of its most valuable bargaining chips: its hostages,” Bukele said on X.

The U.S. has deported about 8,000 Venezuelans through direct repatriation flights this year. It also secured the release of seven American prisoners through swaps negotiated by Trump’s special envoy Ric Grenell.

Venezuela currently holds about 950 political prisoners, of which more than 80 have foreign nationality, according to Caracas-based human rights group Foro Penal.