Trump official travels to Venezuela to negotiate deal for deporting Tren de Aragua gang members

On a call with reporters Friday, Mauricio Claver-Carone, the U.S. special envoy to Latin America, said Grenell will tell Maduro to take back all the Venezuelan criminals and Tren de Aragua gang members that have been "exported to the United States, and to do so unequivocally and without condition." 

Grenell will also demand that Veneuzeula immediately release American hostages being held in that country, Claver-Carone said.

The trip "focuses on two very specific issues. That we expect that Venezuelan criminals and gangs will be returned, as they are, to every country in the world, without conditions, and two, that American hostages need to be released immediately, unequivocally," he explained. 

"This is not a quid pro quo. It's not a negotiation in exchange for anything. President Trump himself has made that very clear." 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Friday that Grenell had arrived in Venezuela on orders from the president. 

The U.S. does not recognize Maduro as the legitimate head of state of Venezuela.

As many as 10 Americans are currently detained in Venezuela, although the State Department has not declared them wrongfully detained. Three are U.S. citizens who allegedly participated in a plot to destabilize the country, according to Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello.

The State Department has denied any U.S. involvement with a plot to overthrow Maduro. 

Saab was arrested during the first Trump administration on charges related to a $350 million bribery scheme.