By Patricia Garip and Vera Bergengruen

Venezuela released an imprisoned U.S. Air Force veteran to American officials, a move Caracas hopes could improve bilateral relations and encourage the Trump administration to allow Western oil companies to continue operating.

President Trump's envoy Ric Grenell oversaw the release Tuesday of Joseph St. Clair during a handover with Venezuelan authorities in Antigua and Barbuda, people with knowledge of the negotiation said. St. Clair arrived in the Washington area aboard a private chartered jet later Tuesday.

St. Clair, 33, a decorated Air Force veteran from Washington state, was arrested by Venezuelan security forces in October near the country's border with Colombia. The State Department on March 3 declared St. Clair and eight other Americans to be wrongfully detained in Venezuela. One more U.S. detainee is expected to be designated soon, people familiar with the matter said.

For Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, releasing St. Clair signals a willingness to cooperate more with the White House. In recent months, Venezuela has also been accepting a steady flow of deportation flights from the U.S. and Honduras, framing it a gesture of goodwill to the Trump administration. Maduro also recently permitted five opposition activists who had been sheltering in the Argentine embassy in Caracas to leave the country.

In February, Trump revoked Chevron's license to produce and export Venezuelan oil, cutting off a financial lifeline for Maduro's regime. Trump later rescinded the licenses of other oil companies and neighboring countries and ordered tariffs targeting countries that import Venezuelan crude.

Days before the licenses are due to expire, the Trump administration will now give the companies 60 more days to produce and trade Venezuelan oil, according to two industry sources. Maduro's administration and oil companies are hoping for negotiations to ease economic sanctions and forge a Ukraine-like resources deal.

Faced with the prospect of leaving Venezuela, oil executives had said forcing Chevron out of the country would allow Chinese state-owned companies to expand their control over the country's oil sector, deepening Beijing's influence in the Western Hemisphere.

Some members of the Trump administration, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have expressed opposition to any steps that ease pressure on Maduro. The White House didn't respond to a request for comment.

St. Clair's release follows meetings of oil executives, lobbyists, and advisers in Washington and Caracas to try to put relations back on a conciliatory course. Among the people conferring in the Venezuelan capital last week was a Qatari diplomat seeking to re-engage the parties in a resumption of Doha's mediation, according to people familiar with the deliberations.

"This news came suddenly, and we are still processing it -- but we are overwhelmed with joy and gratitude," said Scott and Patti St. Clair, Joseph's parents.

Joseph St. Clair, who served four tours in Afghanistan before being honorably discharged in 2019, suffered severe post-traumatic stress disorder, according to his family. After leaving military service, he enrolled in law school, but struggled with depression and other symptoms that made it difficult to get out of bed, they said.

He sought alternative treatments in Latin America. He traveled to Costa Rica for therapy and then to Colombia, where he worked at a language school. He traveled with a Colombian friend to the Venezuelan border, where they were arrested by Venezuelan authorities.

They were transported to El Rodeo I, a prison outside Caracas known for overcrowding, gang control and reports of torture.

Days after Trump's inauguration, Grenell flew to Caracas and returned with six American detainees in what appeared to signal a potential thaw in relations between Washington and Caracas. But in late February, the Trump administration revoked licenses for Chevron and other companies to pump and trade Venezuelan oil. The rollback extended to other Western companies including Spain's Repsol and neighboring Caribbean nations.

Rubio has said Chevron's continued operations in Venezuela legitimize and enable Maduro's grip on power.

Write to Vera Bergengruen at vera.bergengruen@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 20, 2025 16:11 ET (20:11 GMT)

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