Jailed US citizen visits White House after Venezuela release

Bloomberg

President Donald Trump pledged to soon bring home more Americans held overseas during a meeting at the White House with a US citizen imprisoned in Vene-zuela since 2016 who was released after pressure from Washington.
“You went through a lot,” Trump told Joshua Holt at the Oval Office, where the former Mormon missionary was joined by his parents, his wife and daughter. It was “amazing that you were able to take it,” Trump said of the 26-year-old. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker and Utah Senators Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee plus Representative Mia Love, all of whom worked towards Holt’s release, were in the room.
Trump noted that 17 Americans held overseas had been freed since the start of his administration, and said the US is negotiating more releases.
“We have others coming,” he said, singling out pastor Andrew Brunson, held by Turkey since an attempted coup in 2016.
“He’s not a spy,” he’s a “totally innocent man.”
The Oval Office celebration follows Trump’s greeting at Joint Base Andrews earlier this month of three Americans released by North Korea in the lead-up to a planned summit with Trump.
Holt told Trump: “I’m just overwhelmed with gratitude,” adding his imprisonment on weapons charges had been very difficult and “not really the great vacation I was looking for.” Holt’s mother also thanked Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro for releasing her son.

Policy Unchanged
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Twitter that while he welcomes Holt home, “US policy toward Venezuela remains unchanged.”
Trump had previewed his plans to meet Holt earlier in the day on Twitter. Local media showed images of Holt and his wife Thamara with Corker in Venezuela before the three boarded a plane bound for the US. Holt’s release came less than a day after Corker met with Maduro in Caracas.
Maduro shook hands with Corker in images broadcast on state TV from the presidential palace, which said the two were “strengthening international relationships,” without offering more details.
Holt was arrested about 18 months ago and accused of stockpiling a cache of weapons, including assault rifles and grenades, after he travelled to Caracas to marry his Venezuelan girlfriend. US officials say the charges against Holt were politically motivated.
The release happened even with US-Venezuela relations at a low ebb. Maduro’s autocratic regime faces sanctions on its financial sector, moves meant to punish the government without further hurting a hungry and downtrodden population.