US says he met wrongfully detained Americans in Venezuela

A State Department spokesman told CNN that Roger Carstens was able to meet with wrongfully detained Americans while in the capital city of Caracas and discussed with senior Maduro regime officials the importance of ensuring that they receive appropriate care where needed.

Carstens and Ambassador Jimmy Story, who heads the US' Venezuelan Affairs Unit, was unable to return home Thursday after a visit by Carstens and Ambassador Jimmy Story.

The spokesperson said that we will continue to press for the immediate release of all wrongfully detained US nationals in Venezuela at every opportunity.

There are currently eight Americans who are known to be wrongfully detained in Venezuela - five of the six American oil executives known as CITGO 6 Tomeu Vadell, Jorge Toledo, Alirio Jose Zambrano, Jose Luis Zambrano and Jose Angel Pereira - along with Luke Denman, Airan Berry and Matthew Heath.

His aunt Trudy Rutherford said in a statement Thursday that he believes that Matthew's physical and mental health both continue to be at risk and that he may attempt suicide again, despite the fact that he has been detained for nearly two years on what the State Department calls specious charges. She said that it is important that there be continued high level engagement between the US Government and the other American detainees home, despite the fact that Ambassador Carstens and his team made this trip. President Biden and President Maduro both stand to benefit from ending the ordeal for all of these Americans and their families and neither benefit from their prolonged detention, Rutherford said. Two Americans who had been in Venezuela, including one of the CITGO 6, were released in March after the visit of two top US government officials to Caracas.