“I'm not naïve to the crimes that were committed by the [Maduro] regime writ large,” says Roger Carstens, a former U.S. hostage negotiator who met with Maduro many times. “On the flip side, I would say that … my job was to get Americans back and that's best done by building a very human relationship. And in doing so, I didn't find him to be a bloodthirsty maniac.” Carstens points out that his point of view is based only on what he knew at the time. “I always have to be very clear that I might see certain amounts of information, and there's always a treasure trove of information that I've never seen or never will see due to classification or compartmentalization,” he says. On Saturday, U.S. forces captured the Venezuelan dictator and his wife. Both are in jail in New York awaiting trial on drug trafficking charges. #venezula #maduro #usforeignpolicy #globalpolitics #latinamerica