Washington D.C. – Breitbart News, May 21, 2025
The socialist regime governing Venezuela freed U.S. Air Force veteran Joe St. Clair on Tuesday after spending six months unjustly detained as a political prisoner under dictator Nicolás Maduro.
St. Clair, 33, was wrongfully detained in October 2024 while traveling as a tourist near the Venezuelan border with a friend. St. Clair’s family denounced that he and his friend were arrested by Venezuelan authorities, who transported them across the border to a Venezuelan prison. The family lost contact with St. Clair for three months until February, when the U.S. State Department notified them that he had been detained and imprisoned in Venezuela. St. Clair has served four tours in Afghanistan.
U.S. Presidential Envoy for Special Missions Richard Grenell announced the release of St. Clair on Tuesday after travelling to a “neutral country” to negotiate with Venezuelan officials, and stressed that “this is only possible because Donald Trump puts Americans first.”
Grenell spoke to Newsmax shortly after returning to the United States with St. Clair and revealed that he traveled to Antigua to meet with the Venezuelan officials and secure the Air Force veteran’s release from captivity. Grenell pointed out that there are still around six Americans unjustly detained by the Maduro regime.
“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 said.
