Washington, D.C. — In a move that underscores the decaying moral compass of Washington’s diplomacy, the United States has allowed a convicted triple murderer—Dahud Hanid Ortiz, a former US Marine—to walk free on American soil after brokering a murky prisoner swap with Venezuela. Ortiz, who in 2024 was convicted of murdering three people inside a Madrid law office and sentenced to 30 years in Venezuela, was flown into Texas on July 18 under the guise of being one of ten “wrongfully detained Americans.”
What sets this incident apart from routine hostage diplomacy is its brazenness. Ortiz was never classified as wrongfully detained by the State Department. He wasn’t imprisoned for his political views, nor was he a victim of kangaroo courts. He was a killer—one who stabbed, bludgeoned, and burned his victims, then fled to Germany, and finally took refuge in Venezuela, avoiding extradition on the basis of dual citizenship. His 2024 conviction in a Venezuelan court was seen by Spain as justified. Yet, here he is—waving a US flag on the tarmac like a hero returning from war.
This disgraceful episode has left legal experts and victims’ families reeling. Spain, having been denied extradition, now sees its judicial process circumvented. The victims’ families, especially that of Madrid lawyer Víctor Joel Salas, who barely survived Ortiz’s attack, have been left stunned. Even Foro Penal, a Venezuelan human rights watchdog, made it clear: Ortiz was not among the nine political prisoners who had endured torture and wrongful imprisonment. He was a convicted killer, forcibly inserted into the deal at the insistence of US officials.
Since his touchdown in Texas, Ortiz has gone dark. There’s no known surveillance, no parole, and no accountability. Some reports suggest he may be in Florida, living freely—while his victims’ families live with the memory of his crimes. The Biden administration has remained tight-lipped, and the Trump-era negotiators who arranged the deal have deflected blame. Privately, one State Department official admitted Ortiz’s inclusion was a “clerical error” that no one wanted to correct once the agreement was in motion.
This is not a diplomatic win. It’s an indictment of American hypocrisy—where convenience trumps law, and killers are papered over as bargaining chips. While political prisoners in hostile regimes wait years for justice, a convicted murderer gets fast-tracked to freedom simply because he had a US passport and a legal team that knew how to pull strings.
The stench of corruption hangs thick over this episode. It is a stark reminder that in Washington’s foreign policy playbook, justice is expendable. According to The Guardian, who first reported the swap and its murky circumstances, Ortiz was never supposed to be on that plane. He was never on the list. He was never innocent. And yet, the US government let him come home anyway.
This is not diplomacy. It’s disgrace.
