Inside the remarkable story of how an American man was freed from jail in Venezuela with the help of a senator’s backchannel and a man known as ‘Dracula’

Alex Brandon/AP

• American Joshua Holt was released from a Venezuelan prison two years after arriving in South America to marry a Mormon he met online.
• He was surprisingly released after GOP Senator Bob Corker arrived in Caracas and newly reelected Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro handed Holt over.
• Corker’s Latin American aide was assisted by a Venezuelan governor known as “Dracula” who patrols his state in a Batmobile-like vehicle and was reportedly involved in money laundering.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — A secret backchannel led by a veteran Republican Senate staffer and a flamboyant Venezuelan official nicknamed “Dracula” broke through hostile relations between the two governments to secure the release of American prisoner Joshua Holt, who traveled to the South American country for love and ended up in jail, without a trial, for two years.

A week ago the chances of Holt’s long ordeal ending any time soon looked slim.See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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