Former hostage envoy challenged Trump admin’s depiction of Maduro
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Former Special Representative for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens told CBS’ “60 Minutes” that he doesn’t necessarily view Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro as a “bloodthirsty drug dealer,” despite the Trump administration’s image of the man.
Carstens, who previously served in former President Joe Biden and the first Trump administration, told the news program that he was “not shocked” by the news that Maduro was captured by U.S. military forces on Saturday.
Host Scott Pelley asked Carstens if he agreed with the current Trump administration’s violent portrayal of Maduro.
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Former Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens spoke to CBS’ “60 Minutes” about the Trump administration’s military strikes in Venezuela. (Paul Morigi/Getty Images)
“I don’t think so,” Carstens said. “Let me answer it this way, though. In a way, I would say that I’m not naive about the crimes that the regime is committing. And if you’re the president of a country, of course you’re responsible for what’s going on in your government – what’s going on.”
He continued, “On the other hand, as the person who was in the same room with President Maduro, I would say that my mission is to bring Americans back, and the best way to do that is to have a very human relationship. And in doing that, I didn’t come across him as a bloodthirsty maniac. I found him to be a practical person, someone who wanted to find ways to solve the problems facing his country.”
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Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife were arrested by US military forces on Saturday. (Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)
Carstens added that he would not describe Maduro as an international drug dealer based on information he obtained about the political leader during his time in office.
“I think – the country has obviously touched on drugs – and there is information – I always have to be very clear that there is a wealth of information that I can see a certain amount of information that I have never seen or will never be able to see because of classification or compartmentalization all the time. But the person that I witnessed was not someone who was necessarily hard on the drug business. And I’ll be interested to see how the prosecution goes about proving their case,” Carstens said.
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Roger Carstens had previously negotiated with the Maduro government over the release of the hostages. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)
Carstens was involved in multiple hostage exchange deals with Venezuela during his tenure in the Biden administration; one of which was the exchange of seven Americans in 2022 for two nephews of Maduro’s wife.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
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President Donald Trump confirmed on Saturday that the United States would launch a military strike on Venezuela. He has since said that the United States will “rule” the country until Maduro is replaced by a legitimate leader.
