Despite apparent breakthrough, these Americans held by Maduro regime were not freed
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Tuesday’s release of two Americans who had been detained in Venezuela brought tremendous relief for those families, but the families of others imprisoned by the regime of President Nicolás Maduro will have to wait. For how long, no one knows.
Among those who remain are two former soldiers and a retired Marine who have been detained in Venezuela since 2020.
The soldiers, Green Berets Airan Berry and Luke Denman, were arrested in May 2020, captured in what came to be known as Operation Gideon — a failed attempt to spark a popular uprising in Venezuela. The pair had been contracted to take part in the operation by Florida-based security firm Silvercorp USA, led by another ex-Green Beret, Jordan Goudreau. They were sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Four months later, retired Marine Matthew Heath was arrested in September 2020 on terrorism charges, accused by Venezuela of being part of a covert operation to sabotage power plants and oil facilities. The U.S. State Department described the charges against Heath as “specious” and his family insisted that he was in Venezuela after a series of misadventures when attempting to visit friends by boat in nearby Aruba. Heath’s case is ongoing.
After news broke Monday of the Biden administration’s visit to Venezuela, the families of the detained Americans eagerly awaited any update. That same day, White House press secretary Jenn Psaki said that “the health and welfare of detained U.S. citizens” was one of the subjects discussed during the trip, though the visit was also focused on potentially easing sanctions on the Venezuelan oil industry to help reverse surging U.S. gas prices.
“The families are all holding their breath,” said someone close to one of the families.
Asked if he had heard any news, Denman’s brother, Mark, said he had nothing to share.
“I am sorry, I could not right now beyond telling you Luke and Airan are healthy and in good spirits,” he said.
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Mark Denman founded a non-profit called the American Rescue Coalition, dedicated to the return of U.S. citizens held abroad and seeking their humane treatment.
Bill Richardson, the former New Mexico governor turned American hostage negotiator, has previously been involved in efforts to help win the release of the detained Americans, but his Richardson Institute declined to comment Monday due to the “heightened sensitivities” of the current situation.
Richardson previously suggested to the Herald that Denman and Berry may have been duped.
“The Green Berets are innocent of the crimes they are charged with. They were not mercenaries, they were not part of an invasion,” he said.
A series of stories reported in 2020 by the Miami Herald, el Nuevo Herald and the McClatchy Washington Bureau detailed how some members of the Trump administration had prior knowledge of Operation Gideon, and how Maduro loyalists infiltrated the ranks of the coup plotters, leading to a massacre of some invaders and the capture of others.
This story was originally published March 8, 2022 at 8:54 PM.
