Jonathan Franks:
It's a complex situation. There's no actual evidence that that is true, that it incentivizes more hostage-taking.
But, obviously, I concede that it logically follows. I think what we have to keep in mind, right, is Mr. Saab was a white-collar criminal. He's a Colombian national that allegedly stole from Venezuelans, right? He was arrested in the Cape Verde, and we extradited him.
There were real-world consequences to that decision on hostages being held in Venezuela. It turned the Maduro regime into the leading collector in the world of American hostages. So I think there's a — it's a double-edged sword, right? In a sense, we incentivized a lot of hostage-taking by taking Mr. Saab.
And, no, I don't think that bringing Americans home today incentivizes more hostage-taking.
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