By Merve Berker
The US secured the release of 10 American citizens from Venezuela last week, including a man convicted of killing three people in Spain, as part of a multilateral prisoner exchange, NBC News reported on Wednesday.
Dahud Hanid Ortiz, a Venezuelan-born US citizen and Iraq war veteran, was convicted in absentia by a Spanish court for the 2016 murders of two Cuban women and an Ecuadorian man in Madrid.
Ortiz had fled to Venezuela following the crime.
Spain’s extradition request was denied by Caracas on the grounds that Venezuela’s constitution prohibits extradition of its nationals.
Ortiz was instead tried and imprisoned in Venezuela.
“The US had the opportunity to secure the release of all Americans detained in Venezuela,” a State Department spokesperson said, adding that “many of whom reported being subjected to torture and other harsh conditions.”
The exchange involved the governments of President Donald Trump, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.
In return for the Americans, Washington agreed to the transfer of over 250 Venezuelan migrants previously held in a maximum-security prison in El Salvador.
“Every wrongfully detained American in Venezuela is now free and back in our homeland,” said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Photos released by the State Department show the 10 freed individuals, including Ortiz, holding a US flag.
Ortiz, who received a Purple Heart during his military service, was dishonorably discharged after being found guilty of larceny and making a false official statement.
According to Spanish media, Ortiz tracked his estranged wife’s new partner to a Madrid law office and allegedly murdered three employees there.
The partner was not present at the time of the attack.