Venezuela Detains Americans Amid Growing U.S. Pressure

Venezuelan security forces have detained several Americans in the months since the Trump administration began a military and economic pressure campaign against the government of the South American nation, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.

Some of the detainees face legitimate criminal charges, while the U.S. government is considering designating at least two prisoners as wrongfully detained, according to the official. Those arrested include three Venezuelan-American dual passport holders and two American citizens with no known ties to the country, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly.

President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela has long used detained Americans, whether guilty or innocent of serious crimes, as bargaining chips in negotiations with Washington, his greatest adversary.

President Trump has made the release of Americans held overseas a priority in his two presidencies, and sent his envoy, Richard Grenell, to Venezuela to negotiate a prisoner deal days after the start of his second term.

The ensuing period of talks between U.S. and Venezuelan officials resulted in the release of 17 American citizens and permanent residents held in Venezuela.

But the Trump administration’s decision to suspend those talks in favor of a military and economic pressure campaign against Mr. Maduro put an end to prisoner releases. The number of detained Americans in Venezuela began to rise again in the fall, according to the U.S. official. That rise coincided with the deployment of a U.S. naval armada in the Caribbean and the start of airstrikes against boats that Washington says transport drugs on Mr. Maduro’s orders.

The family of a traveler named James Luckey-Lange of Staten Island in New York City, reported him missing soon after he crossed Venezuela’s volatile southern border in early December.

The U.S. official said Mr. Luckey-Lange, 28, is among the recently imprisoned and is one of the two Americans who may be designated as wrongfully detained.

His aunt and next of kin, Abbie Luckey, said in a phone interview that she has not been contacted by U.S. officials, and is seeking any information about his whereabouts.

At least two other people with U.S. ties remain imprisoned in Venezuela, according to their families: Aidel Suarez, a U.S. permanent resident born in Cuba, and Jonathan Torres Duque, a Venezuelan-American.