Freed after 2 years, man jailed in Venezuela returns to US
WASHINGTON — Joshua Holt, who travelled to Venezuela from Utah in 2016 to marry a Spanish-speaking Mormon woman but soon found himself jailed and later branded the CIA’s top spy in Latin America, was set free by the anti-American Maduro government on Saturday, saying he was “overwhelmed with gratitude.”
Holt and his wife, Thamara Caleno, arrived Saturday evening at Washington Dulles International Airport for a tearful reunion with his parents, Laurie and Jason Holt. A few hours later President Donald Trump welcomed them to the White House.
“Those two years, they were a very, very, very difficult two years,” said an emotional Holt, sitting next to Trump in the Oval Office. “Not really the great vacation that I was looking for … I’m just so grateful for what you guys have done.”
To Holt, Trump said: “You’ve gone through a lot. More than most people could endure.”