Ex-envoy fails to secure prisoners in talks with Venezuela’s Maduro

Former US ambassador Bill Richardson has failed to bring back jailed Americans from Venezuela after meeting President Nicolas Maduro, whom Washington is seeking to topple. The Democratic political figure said he met Thursday with Maduro — whom, unlike President Donald Trump’s administration, he referred to as president — and earlier spoke to him by telephone. “I am glad we were able to meet with President Maduro to discuss the potential release of the American prisoners and other COVID-19 humanitarian issues,” said Richardson, a former US ambassador to the United Nations and governor of New Mexico.