WASHINGTON: A US citizen detained for two years in Venezuela was freed and welcomed at the White House on Saturday. Joshua Holt and his wife Thamy, their daughter and parents met with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. “You’ve gone through a lot. A lot more than people can endure,” Trump told the younger Holt couple. The president tweeted a 30-second video after the meeting which featured stirring music and compiled footage of Holt talking, shaking hands and embracing people inside the office with the caption “WELCOME HOME JOSH!”
Earlier, US Vice-President Mike Pence welcomed Holt’s release but said sanctions would continue “until democracy returns to Venezuela.” President Nicolas Maduro was recently re-elected in the South American country in a vote condemned as undemocratic by the US and disputed by the opposition. Holt’s release was announced earlier on Saturday by Orrin Hatch, a Republican from Holt’s home state of Utah, who helped negotiate his release. Hatch also posted a video to the platform showing Holt embrace his parents with the caption “Reunited.”
The footage also showed Holt’s wife and daughter embrace the couple, while Holt wiped away tears after hugging his father.
Holt had reportedly travelled to Venezuela to marry, after meeting his now-wife online. He was accused of being a US agent and charged with weapons violations, and his wife was reportedly also detained.
While in the Oval Office, Holt thanked the president and other lawmakers present for helping him out as a “normal person.”
“Not really the great vacation I was looking for. But we’re still together,” Holt said of his relationship with his wife.
Hatch said the release followed two years of work by his office with “two presidential administrations, countless diplomatic contacts, ambassadors from all over the world, a network of contacts in Venezuela, and President Maduro himself.” — DPA
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