5 members of Citgo 6 return to Texas after Venezuela prisoner swap

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Five oil executives who worked for Houston-based Citgo are on their way home after spending years behind bars in Venezuela. They were freed after a prisoner swap.

"(Saturday), after years of being wrongfully detained in Venezuela, we are bringing home Jorge Toledo, Tomeu Vadell, Alirio Zambrano, Jose Luis Zambrano, Jose Pereira, Matthew Heath, and Osman Khan. These individuals will soon be reunited with their families and back in the arms of their loved ones where they belong," President Joe Biden said in a statement.

Five of the men released worked as executives for Citgo, becoming known as the Citgo 6. Gustavo Cardenas, the sixth member, was the first to be released back in March.

"I was here and my colleagues were there in Venezuela. Sometimes I felt sadness because they are very good people," Cardenas said.

His sadness took a turn Saturday after learning the five other men are on their way back to Texas.

"(Saturday) is maybe one of the happiest days of my life because I knew the families were suffering," Cardenas said.

In November 2017, Cardenas and the five other executives went to Venezuela on what was supposed to be a business trip. The men were arrested and charged with embezzlement and have maintained their innocence.

SEE ALSO: Fort Bend County officials call for release of 6 Citgo executives jailed in Venezuela

"My friendship I have with my colleagues is beyond," Cardenas said. "From the bottom of my heart, they deserve it. They deserve this freedom."

He knows how important that freedom is after years of being locked up in Venezuela.

Without going into too much detail out of respect for the other families, Cardenas described the conditions as very bad. He has been making up for lost time with his wife and three children.

"I don't have enough words to describe the suffering, the agony of this situation, and what it cost my family," Cardenas said.

Now, he says it's time for his friends to do the same, admitting it hasn't been easy after what they had to endure.

"This situation is so sad," Cardenas said. "More because you are innocent. Absolutely innocent. Now is the time for healing and to resume life."

The Zambrano family sent ABC13 this statement:

"The Zambrano family is thrilled that my dad, uncle, and the other innocent Americans are free. After almost five years, my dad and uncle are now able to get the much needed medical care they need in the United States and be reunited with us. We would like to thank President Biden and Ambassador Roger Carstens for their leadership, moral courage, and commitment to our family in making the difficult decisions needed to bring them home.

We would also like to express our gratitude to the advocates that have stood with us along the way, the Richardson Center, the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, and Hostage US among them. In particular, we would like to thank Governor Richardson and his team for their consistent and unwavering advocacy throughout this ordeal. We could not have made it this far without the advocates and other hostage families that have so generously been a light in darkness to get us to this blessed day."

Toledo wrote to President Joe Biden from prison in July that called on him to help free him and his colleagues, sources tell ABC.

A Biden administration official told ABC the White House had, in fact, received the handwritten letter from Toledo in July. It is unclear whether Biden himself ever read it.

See the handwritten letter here:

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