Former U.S. hostage negotiator Roger Carstens is offering a revealing — and controversial — assessment of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro just days after U.S. forces captured the longtime dictator and transported him to the United States to face federal charges.
In an interview with 60 Minutes that aired Sunday, Carstens — who served five years as Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs under both President Donald Trump and then-President Joe Biden — said his personal dealings with Maduro did not match the brutal image often associated with the socialist autocrat.
“The administration would paint Maduro as a bloodthirsty drug dealer,” CBS News correspondent Scott Pelley said. “Is that the man you knew?”
“I don’t think so,” Carstens replied. “On one way I could say I’m not naive to the crimes that were committed by the regime writ large. And if you are the president of a country, you, of course, have responsibility for what’s…happening in your government.”
Watch:
Carstens emphasized that his mission required engaging Maduro directly in order to secure the release of Americans held hostage by the Venezuelan regime — a task he said ultimately resulted in the freedom of 20 U.S. citizens.
“On the flip side,” Carstens continued, “I would say that being the person in the room with President Maduro, my job was to get Americans back and that’s best done by building a very human relationship. And in doing so, I didn’t find him to be a bloodthirsty maniac. I found him to be a practical person. Someone who wanted to find ways to solve the problems that were faced by his country.”
That assessment stands in stark contrast to Maduro’s widely documented record. Under his rule, Venezuela became a narco-state accused of flooding the United States with cocaine through partnerships with Colombian guerrilla groups, including the FARC. His government has been linked to extrajudicial killings, mass political imprisonment, election fraud, and the violent suppression of protests — all while millions of Venezuelans fled the country amid economic collapse.
Those crimes are now at the center of the federal case against him.
President Donald Trump announced Saturday that U.S. troops removed Maduro from power during a nighttime operation in Caracas and flew him to the United States to stand trial on narco-terrorism charges — a move long sought by Republican lawmakers and law-enforcement officials.
Maduro, 63, was arrested alongside his wife, Cilia Flores, during the Jan. 3 operation. Both are now in U.S. custody ahead of their Jan. 5 arraignment.
“This is a worst-case scenario for them, not being in power but in custody of the U.S. government,” Roxanna Vigil, a Council on Foreign Relations fellow, told Fox News Digital.
“They are husband and wife, but there is also the political component because their political futures are tied together as well.”
Federal prosecutors have charged Maduro with four counts, including narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. Flores, 69, faces three similar charges tied to drug trafficking and illegal weapons.
Despite the stunning nature of Maduro’s capture, Carstens said he wasn’t surprised by how events unfolded.
“In a way I wasn’t shocked,” he said. “I think probably as soon as August or September in watching the early military moves and the diplomatic moves take place, it seemed that unless he were willing to make some sort of deal or accommodation with the United States, I felt the possibility of delta force showing up at 2 a.m. was very real.”
During his arraignment on Monday, Maduro insisted he’s innocent. Jude Alvin Hellerstein repeatedly shut down his attempts to speak. Maduro pleaded not guilty to all four counts against him.
“I am innocent. I am a decent man. I am still president of my country,” he argued.
Watch:
For many conservatives, Maduro’s arrest marks a long-overdue reckoning for a dictator accused of poisoning American communities with drugs while crushing freedom at home
READ NEXT: The War Powers Resolution Is A Constitutional Mistake We Refuse To Admit
