MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Venezuela releases “at least 80” political prisoners as families wait outside jails

Outside El Rodeo I prison near Caracas, families set up tents and mattresses to keep watch and share basic supplies

Venezuela freed “at least 80” political prisoners on Sunday across multiple detention facilities, according to a preliminary count by rights group Foro Penal, in a slow-moving release process that has left relatives camping outside prisons while awaiting official confirmation.

Foro Penal director Alfredo Romero said the group was “verifying” the releases and that the figure would “probably” rise as additional cases were confirmed. Lawyer Gonzalo Himiob said the releases took place overnight and that the total “is not definitive yet.”

Outside El Rodeo I prison near Caracas, families set up tents and mattresses to keep watch and share basic supplies. “Now we are all family,” said Aurora Silva, the wife of opposition figure Freddy Superlano, who remains behind bars.

Interim leader Delcy Rodríguez —who took over after Nicolás Maduro was captured in a U.S. military operation on January 3, according to official and media accounts— has promised a “significant” number of releases, but NGOs and opposition groups say the process lacks transparency and often involves restrictions rather than full freedom.

Rodríguez has put the official total of releases since December at 626 and said she would ask the UN human rights office led by High Commissioner Volker Türk to verify the lists. She pushed back against NGO criticism, saying: “Enough of lying to the Venezuelan people.”

Those official figures conflict with independent tallies. A Cooperativa report credited to EFE said Foro Penal and the opposition coalition Plataforma Unitaria Democrática estimated between 154 and 173 releases since the process was announced, while Infobae highlighted fluctuating partial counts and the uncertainty faced by families.

Recent high-profile releases reported internationally include Rafael Tudares —son-in-law of opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia— former presidential candidate Enrique Márquez, rights activist Rocío San Miguel and journalist Roland Carreño, with AFP describing the broader release effort as incremental amid lingering tensions after the 2024 protests and mass arrests.