{"id":110786,"date":"2026-01-12T11:29:47","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T11:29:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=110786"},"modified":"2026-01-12T11:29:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T11:29:47","slug":"jailed-venezuelan-politicians-son-says-trump-shouldnt-be-fooled-by-pledge-of-prisoner-releases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=110786","title":{"rendered":"Jailed Venezuelan politician\u2019s son says Trump shouldn\u2019t be \u2018fooled\u2019 by pledge of prisoner releases"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>4 Minute, 15 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
\n

The son of a jailed Venezuelan opposition leader has warned Donald Trump to \u201cnot be fooled\u201d by the country\u2019s government, amid accusations it has not kept its promise to release a significant number of political prisoners.<\/p>\n

Ram\u00f3n Guanipa, the son of Juan Pablo Guanipa, said he believed the US president was unaware that only about 40 of the total of more than 800 political prisoners had reportedly been released so far.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Trump thanked the Venezuelan authorities, saying they had \u201cstarted the process, in a BIG WAY\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Venezuelan government announced on Thursday it would release detainees considered political prisoners by human rights groups as a \u201cgoodwill gesture\u201d.<\/p>\n

The move came after the US seized Venezuela\u2019s President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro in a raid on the capital, Caracas, on 3 January, and took him to New York, where he has been charged with drug trafficking.<\/p>\n

Jorge Rodr\u00edguez, Venezuela\u2019s National Assembly leader and the brother of Interim President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, announced that an \u201cimportant number of Venezuelan and foreign detainees\u201d would be released \u201cimmediately\u201d.<\/p>\n

Among those confirmed as released are several high-profile opposition figures \u2013 with Spain\u2019s foreign ministry confirming that five Spanish citizens had been freed, including\u00a0human rights lawyer Roc\u00edo San Miguel.<\/p>\n

Trump claimed credit for the releases, writing on social media on Saturday: \u201cI hope these prisoners will remember how lucky they got that the USA came along and did what had to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

But relatives of those still behind bars have been expressing their frustration that only a small number of prisoners have been freed.<\/p>\n

Ram\u00f3n Guanipa, whose father is a close ally of opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mar\u00eda Corina Machado, told BBC Mundo: \u201cI want to tell President Trump that he must not be fooled and [should] keep pressure on these guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI want to thank President Trump for the pressure that he\u2019s been enforcing. He\u2019s been our greatest ally in this situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, pointing to the small number of people released so far, Guanipa warned Trump that \u201cif he thinks this is going alright, it is not\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Jailed<\/figure>\n

Ram\u00f3n Guanipa says he has only been allowed to visit his father once since the older man was arrested.<\/p>\n

Juan Pablo Guanipa went into hiding after being accused of terrorism and treason for challenging the result of the 2024 presidential election. That vote was lacked \u201cbasic transparency and integrity\u201d, according to the UN, and was denounced as rigged by the US which did not recognise Maduro as Venezuela\u2019s legitimate leader.<\/p>\n

For his comments, Juan Pablo Guanipa was tracked down by Venezuelan security forces and detained in May 2025.<\/p>\n

After hearing about the planned prisoner release, Ram\u00f3n Guanipa took the first available flight from Maracaibo, in the east of the country, to Caracas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they tell you they\u2019re going to release your family, everything else becomes small,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

But when his father was not among those freed, he felt \u201cdefeated\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut at the same time, you find another reason to fight. I\u2019m fighting for them [the interim government] to actually do what they say they\u2019re going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Venezuelan government has not commented on the pace of the releases, and the attorney general has declined a BBC interview request.<\/p>\n

The developments are being viewed as the first test of Trump\u2019s influence in Venezuela following the removal of Maduro.<\/p>\n

Interim President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez has appeared to welcome co-operation with the Trump administration, but her public statements have condemned any form of US intervention.<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s announcement about prisoner releases came a day after Trump said that the Venezuelan authorities would shut down El Helicoide, the country\u2019s most notorious prison.<\/p>\n

El Helicoide was originally designed to be a shopping centre and a symbol of Venezuela\u2019s oil-fuelled prosperity, but became a fortress of political repression under Maduro.<\/p>\n

\"Jailed<\/figure>\n

Outside El Helicoide in western Caracas, the atmosphere is tense, with relatives keeping vigil.<\/p>\n

Carmen Farf\u00e1n\u2019s son, Jos\u00e9 Gregorio Reyes, was detained along with his wife and a friend, while he was in hospital in western Venezuela. Their families have heard nothing since.<\/p>\n

Farf\u00e1n does not know where her son is being held but has come to El Helicoide to join others in pleading for their relatives\u2019 release \u2013 wherever they may be.<\/p>\n

Beside her, Reyes\u2019 sister-in-law, cries as she describes how the three were arrested in November 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope they tell us where they are keeping them. We are desperate. We\u2019ve been waiting for many days without any answers,\u201d Farf\u00e1n says.<\/p>\n

Venezuela\u2019s opposition and human rights groups have long accused the government of using detentions to stamp out dissent and silence critics, but officials repeatedly denied Venezuela held any political prisoners, arguing those detained were arrested for criminal activity.<\/p>\n

Opposition activists have described the release of political prisoners as an \u201curgent\u201d step towards any transition of power.<\/p>\n

However, the small number freed so far has raised doubts about the interim government\u2019s intentions and questions over the extent of its willingness to cooperate with the US.<\/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":"
\"JailedThe son of a jailed Venezuelan opposition leader has warned Donald Trump to “not be fooled” by the country’s government, amid accusations it has not kept its promise to release a significant number of political prisoners.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":110787,"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":[993,1910,10,9,9475],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-donald-trump","category-international","category-politics","category-popular","category-venezuela"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110786","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=110786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/110787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=110786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=110786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=110786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}