Jose Pereira was wrongfully detained and held captive in Venezuela for nearly five years, from November 21, 2017, to October 1, 2022. His only crime was that he is an American. Before he was taken hostage, he spent thirty-five years as an oil company executive and CEO of Citgo Petroleum (a US-based refineries complex and broad gas station distribution center).

Pereira’s story has since evolved into a movement: changing the narrative of what it takes to bring the wrongfully detained home and how to find peace following such a traumatic experience. Having gone through his hostage-experience in a Hostile Foreign Country, expanded Jose’s perception of how to measure accomplishments and reach “success”. The combination of both his professional expertise and unique, lived experience, has led him to the desire to help others in their own journeys to success.