Thanks to the Trump administration, ten Americans have officially boarded a flight and are heading for the United States after being released from custody in Venezuela in a prisoner swap.
On Friday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that the Americans were freed from Venezuela in exchange for El Salvador returning 252 Venezuelans who were deported from the U.S. to a notorious Salvadoran prison earlier this year. Senior administration officials allege the released Venezuelans were members of the gang Tren de Aragua.
"Thanks to President Donald Trump's leadership and commitment to the American people, the United States welcomes home ten Americans who were detained in Venezuela," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. "Until today, more Americans were wrongfully held in Venezuela than any other country in the world. It is unacceptable that Venezuelan regime representatives arrested and jailed U.S. nationals under highly questionable circumstances and without proper due process. Every wrongfully detained American in Venezuela is now free and back in our homeland."
"Our commitment to the American people is clear: we will safeguard the well-being of U.S. nationals both at home and abroad and not rest until all Americans being held hostage or unjustly detained around the world are brought home," Rubio continued, thanking the State Department, inter-agency partners, and the President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele.
Thanks to @POTUS’s leadership, ten Americans who were detained in Venezuela are on their way to freedom.
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) July 18, 2025
I want to thank my team at the @StateDept & especially President @nayibbukele for helping secure an agreement for the release of all of our American detainees, plus the…
A former Navy SEAL, Wilbert Joseph Castaneda, was among the Americans released. His family claimed that Castaneda had suffered several traumatic brain injuries during his 18 years in the Navy that "impaired his judgment and risk mitigation" and "led him to make a bad decision to travel to Venezuela."
Ten Americans are are their way home from detention in Venezuela! Thanks to @POTUS, @SecRubio, @usembassyve, @aboehler and many others for your support bringing Americans home pic.twitter.com/0lnxkBEZ9S
— Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs (@StateSPEHA) July 18, 2025
The release is part of a prisoner swap negotiated by President Bukele, in which El Salvador agreed to free hundreds of Venezuelan inmates held at the high-security Tecoluca prison in exchange for the repatriation of Salvadoran nationals imprisoned in Venezuela. The Venezuelans were initially transferred to El Salvador by the United States in March under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, allowing the U.S. to deport suspected members of the Tren de Aragua gang without following standard immigration procedures.
Bukele confirmed the prisoner swap, saying that the operation was 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."
"However, thanks to the tireless efforts of many officials from both the United States and El Salvador, and above all, thanks to Almighty God, it was achieved. In this, as in other matters, I remind you: patience and trust," he said.
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