{"id":110518,"date":"2026-01-09T13:50:04","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T13:50:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=110518"},"modified":"2026-01-09T13:50:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T13:50:04","slug":"venezuelan-government-begins-releasing-political-prisoners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=110518","title":{"rendered":"Venezuelan government begins releasing political prisoners"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>3 Minute, 6 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
\n

The Venezuelan government has started releasing detainees considered political prisoners by human rights groups, in what officials described as a goodwill gesture.<\/p>\n

Spain\u2019s foreign ministry said five of its nationals had been released. Among them is prominent Venezuelan-Spanish rights activist, Roc\u00edo San Miguel, her family confirmed to US media.<\/p>\n

The move comes after the US\u00a0seized Venezuela\u2019s President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro\u00a0in a raid on the capital, Caracas, on Saturday, to face drug trafficking charges in New York.<\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump\u00a0wrote on Truth Social\u00a0that the release of political prisoners \u2013 which has been a long-held US demand \u2013 was \u201ca very important and smart gesture\u201d from Venezuela.<\/p>\n

Trump added that Venezuela released the prisoners as a sign of \u201cseeking peace\u201d and as a result, he had cancelled a \u201cpreviously expected second wave of attacks\u201d on the country.<\/p>\n

Jorge Rodr\u00edguez, the head of Venezuela\u2019s National Assembly and the brother of its interim president Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, announced on state television that \u201ca significant number\u201d would be released immediately, without specifying the number or identity of prisoners being freed.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of political prisoners are detained in Venezuelan prisons, with only a handful thought to have been released so far.<\/p>\n

Jorge Rodr\u00edguez said the interim government was releasing them in the interest of \u201cnational unity and peaceful coexistence\u201d.<\/p>\n

Roc\u00edo San Miguel, a vocal critic of Maduro and a defence expert, was the first prisoner confirmed to be freed. Her family told the New York Times that she was taken to the Spanish embassy in Caracas.<\/p>\n

Arrested in 2024, she was accused of being\u00a0involved in a plot to kill the then-president\u00a0and faced charges of treason, conspiracy and terrorism. Her arrest shocked human rights activists and, because her whereabouts were unknown, was labelled as potential \u201cenforced disappearance\u201d by the UN Human Rights Office.<\/p>\n

Venezuelan human rights organisations \u2013 some of which have members or their founders in jail \u2013 welcomed the news with caution.<\/p>\n

Despite being a key lieutenant of Maduro, Delcy Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s interim administration has appeared willing to co-operate with the US since it took its leader and made\u00a0sweeping declarations about the South American nation\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

About 50 to 80 prisoners are believed to be held at the notorious El Helicoide prison, which US President Donald Trump announced would be closed following Maduro\u2019s capture.<\/p>\n

The prison gained international notoriety for detaining alleged political opponents, with reports by human rights groups of torture including beatings and electrocution.<\/p>\n

The announcement also comes shortly after US President Donald Trump stated that he had \u201cgiven orders to close that prison,\u201d which had become one of the most notorious symbols of political repression in the country.<\/p>\n

Venezuelan human rights group Provea warned El Helicoide\u2019s anticipated closure should not deflect attention from the other detention sites still running across the country.<\/p>\n

Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, who has several close allies in prison, has repeatedly demanded releases.<\/p>\n

In a sit-down interview with the Fox News show Hannity, Trump said Machado was expected to come to the US \u201cnext week sometime\u201d.<\/p>\n

Machado told host Sean Hannity earlier in the week that she wanted to give the US president her Nobel Peace Prize. When asked by Hannity whether Trump would accept the offer, he said \u201cthat would be a great honour\u201d.<\/p>\n

Venezuela\u2019s opposition and human rights groups have said for years the government used detentions to stamp out dissent and silence critics.<\/p>\n

Since the widely disputed 2024 election, the opposition claimed legal proceedings against activists, journalists and political adversaries increased.<\/p>\n

Attorney General Tarek Saab and others in the government repeatedly denied Venezuela held political prisoners, arguing those detained were arrested for genuine crimes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n \n
\n \n \"Happy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Happy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sad\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sad <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Excited\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Excited <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sleepy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sleepy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Angry\"\n <\/a>\n
Angry<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Surprise\"\n <\/a>\n
Surprise<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\"VenezuelanThe Venezuelan government has started releasing detainees considered political prisoners by human rights groups, in what officials described as a goodwill gesture.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1910,10,9,4789,15132],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international","category-politics","category-popular","category-prisoners","category-venezuelan"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=110518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110518\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=110518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=110518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=110518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}