American freed from Venezuela says his ‘nightmare’ has ended

By JOSHUA GOODMAN, REGINA GARCIA CANO and ERIC TUCKER
Associated Press

MIAMI (AP) — An American oil executive freed from custody in Venezuela says that even as he celebrates with his family the end of a long “nightmare,” he’s praying for the release of five colleagues who are still imprisoned and “deserve the same blessings.” Gustavo Cardenas arrived to his home in Houston at 4 a.m. Wednesday after flying overnight from Caracas with a senior State Department official sent to negotiate the release of American prisoners in the South American country. In a statement, he said his imprisonment of more than four years “has caused a lot of suffering and pain, much more than I can explain with my words.”