Trump’s Envoy and a Smiling Maduro Reset Venezuela Relations

Grenell gives Trump wins on prisoners release, deportees
Maduro was quick to publicize the meeting as a victory

This photo released by Venezuela’s presidential press office shows President Maduro, right, shaking hands with Richard Grenell at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, on Jan. 31.Source: Venezuela’s Presidential Press Office

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By Bloomberg News

February 1, 2025 at 9:22 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

In a whirlwind trip, an envoy of President Donald Trump undid years of Biden administration diplomacy in Venezuela and started fresh with its President Nicolás Maduro, a shift that could have repercussions from migration to the oil market.

Richard Grenell, Trump’s envoy for special situations, flew to Caracas Friday, shook Maduro’s hand, and returned with six American prisoners and a promise that Venezuela would accept its deported migrants for the first time in almost a year, including members of the feared Tren de Aragua criminal gang.