US aides: Venezuela opens backchannel over jailed American

U.S. congressional aides say Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro welcomed a visit last month by a top-ranking Republican congressional staffer to discuss the possible release of a Utah man jailed for more than 20 months.

It’s not known if there has been any progress in the backchannel talks to secure Joshua Holt’s release, but the mere fact that Maduro met with the staffer, and in turn sent an envoy of his own this week to Washington, may be a sign of movement in the politically charged case.

The aides tell The Associated Press that the unannounced discussions began when Caleb McCarry, a Republican aide on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, traveled to Caracas in February and met with Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores to discuss Holt’s imprisonment.