Episode 253 Jose Angel Pereira Ruimwyk - From Hero to Villain

Wealth Academy Podcast hosted Jose Pereira, the former CEO of
Citgo Petroleum Refining and Gas Corporation. Jose was an
executive who was scheduled to return, however he along with five
other executives flew to Venezuela for a business meeting,
however they were not allowed to leave, and they were detained
and held against their will. 


Jose shares his ordeal with listeners and how they had to learn
how to cope with being hostages, having not committed a crime,
they simply were held because they were American citizens. The
fact of the matter is this, Jose and his colleagues were held for
five years, which consists of 1,175 days in captivity. The
original sentence was from 8-13 years.


For anyone thinking their life is bad, this experience will make
you feel as though it pales in comparison. Jose lost 100 pounds
during his first year of captivity, they were thrown into a
dungeon, and they could not communication with anyone during the
first year of captivity. The United Nation's intervened and Jose
and his colleagues were given food, however it had to be provided
by their families, of which some members left the U.S. to assist
with having food delivered from a neighboring country.


They also worked to communicate with family members by sending
messages of their condition and for Jose it resulted in 1,000
letters written to his wife over the five-year time frame. After
the new U.S. Administration was in place, the State Department
began working in the background to free the hostages and it
resulted in a prisoner swap after five long years.


The Citgo 6 were released in October 2022. Today Jose advocates
for hostage releases from around the world. he is a speaker,
author of the book, From Hero To Villain and he delivers coaching
to organizations and more importantly he is a survivor with a
loving family that stood by his side from day one of his ordeal.
He owes his release and that of others to their resilience,
spiritual growth, and overcoming adversity and this is part of
his coaching program. 


Host Paul Lawrence Vann was honored to interview Jose Pereira and
he encourages you to go to Apple Podcasts and rate and review
this episode, it is atmosphere shifting. 


Learn more about Jose Pereira at the following website.:
https://joseconnect.com