Venezuela Detainee Swap: Daughter of Released American Prisoner Blasts Marco Rubio For Criticizing Prisoner Exchange

The United States and Venezuela have agreed to a prisoner exchange, with Venezuela releasing seven wrongfully-detained Americans for two Venezuelan drug traffickers who are nephews of Venezuelan first lady Cilia Flores. However, this decision has had some pushback from Senator Marco Rubio (R.-Florida).

According to the Florida Republican, the trade "puts Americans all over the world in danger." He told CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union" that this makes other countries treat U.S. citizens as bargaining chips and might kidnap them for this purpose.

"I think seven innocent American hostages in exchange for two convicted drug dealers, who happened to be the nephews of (Venezuelan President Nicolas) Maduro, is a huge win for Maduro and, unfortunately, puts Americans all over the world now in danger," said the Florida senator.

Daughter of American Detainee in Venezuela Pushes Back Against Marco Rubio's Claims

The Florida senator's comments did not go over too well for the families of the Americans who were released because of the exchange, as a relative of two of them blasted Rubio and called his comments "unpatriotic and unhelpful."

Alexandra Forseth, the daughter of Alirio Zambrano and niece of Jose Luis Zambrano, talked to CNN's Alex Marquardt on "New Day." She expressed her disappointment in Rubio since the senator is "perpetuating this myth that getting our people home actually puts Americans at risk."

Forseth also called Rubio "misinformed" and questioned his claims of supporting the men wrongfully detained by Venezuela. She then added that Rubio has done absolutely nothing in helping bring these men back home to the United States.

According to CNN, among the Americans that Venezuela will be releasing with the Zambrano brothers are Jorge Toledo, Tomeu Vadell, and Jose Pereira. The five of them, along with one previously released by Venezuela last March form the "CITGO 6," were detained in Venezuela over four years ago. The other two Americans freed by Venezuela include Marine veteran Matthew Heath and Osman Khan. The U.S. government classified all seven of them as wrongfully detained.

Prisoner Exchange a 'Win' for the United States

While more people are talking about the two Americans detained in Russia, Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner, Venezuela actually holds the highest number of Americans that the U.S. government considers as "wrongfully detained."

With the release of the seven Americans in exchange for two Venezuelan nationals, many consider this a win for the United States and the Biden Administration, which promised to bring home around 60 Americans believed to be held hostage abroad or wrongfully detained in other countries.

The prisoner swap came together quietly, according to The Guardian. It happened after several months of backchannel talks.

The talks included the release of insider businessman Alex Saab, whom Venezuela says is a diplomat but the United States considers a corrupt regime enabler. He remains under U.S. custody following the exchange. Four Americans remained in Venezuelan custody as President Nicolas Maduro wanted Saab's release in exchange for all the wrongfully detained Americans.

While Rubio had criticized the exchange, another Republican, former GOP staffer Caleb McCarry praised the administration's efforts to bring the prisoners back home.

"This is serious diplomacy and can only help put the Mexico negotiations back on track. It's a win for the families, the American people, and the Venezuelan people," he said.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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