The decision to free an American convicted of murder in a prisoner swap with Venezuela threatened to undercut President Trump’s claims of keeping the worst of the worst out of the United States.
Michael Kozak, a senior State Department diplomat, wondered in an email exchange whether, having obtained the freedom of Dahud Hanid Ortiz, a U.S. Army veteran convicted of murdering three people in Madrid in 2016, the U.S. government might extradite him to Spain.
The Trump administration said it was protecting Americans unjustly held abroad. One of the rescued men, Dahud Hanid Ortiz, killed three people, according to court documents.
A photo released on social media by the State Department shows some of the 10 freed Americans who had been detained in Venezuela as they returned to the United States this month. Dahud Hanid Ortiz is at center right, holding a small flag.
Ten Americans and permanent U.S. residents detained in Venezuela were traded for more than 250 Venezuelans expelled from the U.S. and imprisoned in El Salvador.
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