Trump says Venezuela agrees to receive illegal migrants captured in US

 U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Venezuela has agreed to receive all Venezuelan illegal migrants captured in the United States and pay for their transport.

That includes gang members of Tren de Aragua, Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

The Venezuelan government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The announcement comes one day after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump’s envoy Richard Grenell was in Venezuela to work on this.

Grenell on Friday made no comments on the gang members but did say he was headed back to the United States with six American citizens, a surprise development after he met with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas.

Grenell did not name the six men, shown with him aboard an airplane in this photo he posted online. Four of them were dressed in light blue outfits used by the Venezuelan prison system.

Trump cheered the move in his own post.

It is unclear exactly how many Americans were being held by Venezuela, but Venezuelan officials have spoken publicly of at least nine.

Maduro's officials have accused most of them of terrorism and said some were high-level "mercenaries."

The Venezuelan government regularly accuses members of the opposition and foreign detainees of conspiring with the U.S. to commit terrorism.

U.S. officials have always denied any plots.

Maduro told officials in an annual speech to the judiciary late on Friday evening that the meeting between him and Grenell had gone well.

“We tell President Donald Trump that we've taken a first step, and hopefully it can be sustained. We want to maintain it."

The White House said Grenell’s visit does not mean the United States recognizes Maduro as Venezuela's legitimate leader.

The meeting comes as Trump has kicked off a sweeping immigration crackdown, pledging mass deportations.

Some 600,000 Venezuelans in the United States were eligible for deportation reprieves granted by the previous administration, but U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she would cut the duration of the protections.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-says-venezuela-agrees-receive-194232682.html