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An American man freed from captivity in Venezuela on Saturday after being imprisoned by the South American country for nearly two years has arrived in the United States, officials said.
Joshua Holt, 26, was released by Venezuela on Saturday along with his wife, Thamy, who had been held since 2016.
Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, tweeted shortly before 7 p.m. ET that "Josh Holt is on American soil again! His flight just landed in DC." Vice President Mike Pence said on Twitter: “Very glad that Josh Holt is now back home with his family - where he has always belonged."
Holt, a Morman missionary, flew to Venezuela approximately two years ago to marry Thamara Caleno, a Mormon woman he met online.
Venezuelan law enforcement allege that the American man had stockpiled weapons in his wife's family's apartment inside a public housing complex in Caracas, the nation's capital. The two have been held without trial since they were arrested shortly after the wedding in 2016.
The State Department has called the weapons charges "questionable."
Holt in a series of texts to NBC News Saturday afternoon said that "you can't judge a group of people ... because of the actions of a few people," and "I have nothing against the people of Venezuela."
"I know that it would be impossible to thank all of the people that helped my wife and I in our difficult situation. I know there were many tears shed and some sleepless nights," Holt said in the texts. "The only thing I can do is say thank you from the bottom of my heart, thank you for the support, your prayers, and for never giving up and leaving us behind. May God bless you all."
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, announced the release of Holt in a statement earlier Saturday.
"Over the last two years I've worked with two Presidential administrations, countless diplomatic contacts, ambassadors from all over the world, a network of contacts in Venezuela, and President Maduro himself, and I could not be more honored to be able to reunite Josh with his sweet, long-suffering family in Riverton," Hatch wrote.
President Donald Trump celebrated the announcement on Twitter calling it "good news." His post noted that the formerly imprisoned couple were expected to land in Washington D.C. Saturday evening and meet Holt's family at the White House.
"The great people of Utah will be very happy!" the president tweeted.
Holt's release comes a little over a week after the native Utahn released two short videos on his Facebook page in which he said a prison riot was endangering his life. It is unclear how Holt gained access to a cellphone or the internet from El Helicoide, or the Helix, prison in Caracas.
The release comes amid strained relations between the White House and the government of Venezuela. The White House called this month's election in which President Nicolas Maduro was re-elected a "sham." Canada's minister of foreign affairs has also called the presidential elections "illegitimate and anti-democratic."
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Last July, the U.S. sanctioned 13 Venezuelan officials in an effort to pressure Maduro to cancel plans for a vote that month that could lead to a rewrite of the South American country’s constitution, which was criticized as a power grab.
Then-national security advisor H.R. McMaster called the elections to replace Venezuela's National Assembly with a new National Constituent Assembly an "outrageous seizure of absolute power."
Venezuela's communications minister, Jorge Rodriguez, said the release of the couple was a goodwill gesture that followed months of dialogue between the Maduro government and U.S. lawmakers.
"We're praying that this type of gesture ... will allow us to strengthen what we've always sought: dialogue, harmony, respect for our independence and respect for our sovereignty," he said, according to the Associated Press.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said earlier this week that his team had been focused on Holt's return, but that their ability had been diminished after the president of Venezuela expelled the top two U.S. diplomats in the country on Tuesday.
"We're doing the things we can with the tools we can use to encourage the material regime to at least in this one instance do something right and let this fellow come back," Pompeo said at a Foreign Affairs Committee hearing this week.