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“The intentions, of course, were never to cross over to Venezuela, he was just accompanying her,” said Henry Martínez, Hernández’s brother. The men told Hernández that if they wanted to enter Venezuela, he had to pay $100. Hernández told them he was not trying to enter the country and did not have $100. The U.S. has not had a diplomatic presence in Caracas since 2019, so access to jailed Americans has been limited since then. “Sometimes I can hear his voice weak and just frustrated and anxious,” said Henry Martínez.

☆ Daughters of Americans imprisoned in Iran appeal to Biden for action
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Dan De Luce | Dan De Luce Is A Reporter For The Nbc News Investigative Unit. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The daughters of two Iranian Americans imprisoned in Iran for more than four years appealed for a face-to-face meeting with President Joe Biden and called on him to take the tough decisions necessary to bring their fathers home. Morad Tahbaz has been imprisoned in Iran since 2018. It is his duty to bring Americans home who are wrongfully detained,” Tahbaz said. She said Biden was committed to securing the release of Americans wrongfully detained overseas. The third American held in Iran, Siamak Namazi, has been imprisoned for seven years.

☆ 'I want to talk': WNBA star Brittney Griner opened up during her long trip home
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

American basketball star Brittney Griner gets out of a plane after landing at the JBSA-Kelly Field Annex runway on December 9, 2022 in San Antonio, after she was released from a Russian prison in exchange for a notorious arms dealer. WNBA star Brittney Griner didn't want any alone time as soon as she boarded a U.S. government plane that would bring her home. She then asked Carstens, referring to others on the plane: "But, first of all, who are these guys?" Ultimately, Griner spent about 12 hours of an 18-hour flight talking with others on the plane, Carstens said. "I was left with the impression this is an intelligent, passionate, compassionate, humble, interesting person, a patriotic person," Carstens said.

Hostage affairs envoy Roger Carstens told MSBNC that the president and Secretary of State Antony Blinken were personally focused on the effort to free Whelan. He told CNN the administration could soon roll out fresh sanctions under a presidential executive order signed last summer. Biden on Thursday announced a prisoner swap involving American basketball star Brittney Griner, but was unable to secure the release of Whelan. And it's not going to be too long before you see something rolled out," he told CNN. Asked what realistic options the U.S. government had to bring Whelan home, Carstens told CNN: "I would love to tell you about it, because, to me, they're very exciting and interesting.

☆ ‘I want to talk’: Brittney Griner opened up during her long trip home
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON (AP) — WNBA star Brittney Griner didn’t want any alone time as soon as she boarded a U.S. government plane that would bring her home. I want to talk,” Griner said, according to Roger Carstens, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, who helped secure the basketball star’s release and bring her back to the U.S. last week. “It was really amazing.”Ultimately, Griner spent about 12 hours of an 18-hour flight talking with others on the plane, Carstens said. The U.S. State Department declared Griner to be “wrongfully detained” — a charge that Russia has sharply rejected. But the U.S. was unable to secure the freedom of Paul Whelan, who has been held in Russia for nearly four years.

☆ Brittney Griner immediately shook hands with members of the crew returning her to the US, hostage affairs official says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Jennifer Hansler | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The top US hostage affairs official on Sunday reflected on conducting the prisoner swap that led to Brittney Griner’s release, saying the WNBA star immediately thanked the crew returning her to the United States. We’ll give you your space,’” Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”“And she said, ‘Oh no. So when you get the chance to shake someone’s hand, it’s one of the rare moments that you get to celebrate a victory,” Carstens told Bash. So as I am shaking Brittney’s hands and we are going to the aircraft and having this great conversation, my brain is already thinking about Paul Whelan. He said he told Whelan that “this was a case where it was either one or none.”“We weren’t able to get you out of this go round.

☆ 'We're going to get you': White House official says he told Paul Whelan, who is still detained in Russia, to 'keep the faith' as the Biden administration works on his release
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Taylor Ardrey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A White House official said he spoke to Paul Whelan after WNBA player Brittney Griner was released. During a Sunday interview with CNN, Roger Carstens said he told Whelan to "keep the faith." Whelan was not included in the prison swap that included Griner and arms dealer Viktor Bout. "I said, 'Paul, you have the commitment of this president, the president's focus, the secretary of state's focus, I'm certainly focused, and we're going to bring you home,'" Carstens told Dana Bash. His twin, David Whelan, told CNN he was "glad" that Griner was free and said the White House "made the right decision."

WNBA star Brittney Griner arrived back in the United States early Friday after being freed from Russian custody, bringing a nearly yearlong ordeal to an end. Eric Gay / APIn earlier video, Russian media had showed Griner crossing paths with Bout after walking off a Russian plane in Abu Dhabi, where she was met by a U.S. official during the exchange. President Joe Biden, who said he approved the deal that saw Griner freed, said Thursday that she had been "held under intolerable circumstances." In a written statement Thursday night, the Griner family thanked Biden, his administration and others for their efforts. Whelan’s family said they had been told by the Biden administration in advance that he would not be part of the prisoner swap Thursday that freed Griner.

☆ Brittney Griner Lands in U.S. After Russia Prisoner Exchange
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Deborah Ball | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Women’s basketball star Brittney Griner landed in the U.S. after being released from a Russian penal colony as part of a prisoner exchange for a Russian arms dealer, according to a U.S. official. Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens tweeted, “So happy to have Brittney back on U.S. soil. Welcome home BG!”

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