Acting President of Venezuela Delcy Rodriguez announced Friday an amnesty bill that could lead to the release of hundreds of prisonersincluding opposition leaders, journalists and human rights activists detained for political reasons.
This measure had long been demanded by the opposition supported by the United States. It’s the latest concession Rodríguez has made since taking the country’s reins on Jan. 3 following the then-president’s blatant grab. Nicolas Maduro in an American army attack in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.
Rodríguez told a gathering of judges, magistrates, ministers, top military officers and other government leaders that the National Assembly, controlled by the ruling party, would consider the bill urgently.
“May this law serve to heal the wounds left by political confrontation fueled by violence and extremism,” she added during the pre-recorded televised event. “May it serve to reorient justice in our country, and may it serve to reorient coexistence among Venezuelans.”
This comes as the US Embassy in Venezuela also announced on Friday that all US citizens detained in Venezuela had been released.
“We are pleased to confirm the release by interim authorities of all known U.S. citizens detained in Venezuela,” the embassy said. said in a post on social media. Secretary of State Marco Rubio republished the news on his personal account
The number of people released was not immediately specified. CBS News has contacted the State Department.
Earlier this month, a hostage defender familiar with the situation had told CBS News that at least four Americans were still detained in Venezuela.
In July, 10 Americans were released of Venezuela as part of a prisoner exchange involving the United States and El Salvador. The Americans were released in exchange for the return to El Salvador of 252 Venezuelans deported from the United States to El Salvador’s notorious terrorist containment center, or BLIND
The United States does not physically have an embassy in Venezuela, having closed its embassy in Caracas in 2019. amid mass protests and political unrest. Since then it has been working its consular services from Bogota, Colombia. In the process Following Maduro’s capture by the United States in early January, the Trump administration informed Congress this week that it would take steps to potentially reopen its embassy in Venezuela.
Laura Doguthe head of American diplomacy in Venezuela, went to Caracas on Saturday to meet Venezuelan officials, Yvan Gil, the Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs, job on social networks. Gil said their meeting aimed “to chart a roadmap for work on issues of bilateral interest, as well as to address and resolve existing differences through diplomatic dialogue and on the basis of mutual respect and international law.”
Rodríguez also announced the closure of Helicoide, a prison in Caracas where torture and other human rights violations have been repeatedly documented by independent organizations. The establishment, she said, will be transformed into a sports, social and cultural center for the police and surrounding neighborhoods.
Javier Campos/Picture Alliance via Getty Images 
Rodríguez made the announcement in front of some of the officials accused by former prisoners and human rights groups of ordering the abuses at Helicoide and other detention centers.
Relatives of some prisoners livestreamed Rodríguez’s speech by telephone as they gathered in front of Helicoide. Some cried. Many chanted “Freedom!” Freedom ! »
“God is good. God heard us,” said Johana Chirinos, the aunt of one prisoner, tears streaming down her face.
leader of the opposition and María Corina Machado, Nobel Peace Prize laureate In a press release, it is indicated that the measures announced were not taken “voluntarily, but rather in response to pressure from the American government”. She also noted that people have been detained for their political activities for between one month and 23 years.
“The regime’s repressive apparatus is brutal and has responded to the many criminal forces that respond to this regime, and that is all that remains,” Machado said. “When repression disappears and fear is lost, that will be the end of tyranny.”
Venezuela-based prisoners’ rights group Foro Penal estimates that 711 people are being held in the South American country’s detention centers because of their political activities. Among them, 183 were convicted.
Prominent members of the political opposition who were arrested after the 2024 presidential election and who remain in prison include former lawmaker Freddy Superlano, Machado’s lawyer Perkins Rocha, as well as Juan Pablo Guanipa, a former governor and one of Machado’s closest allies.
The government did not release the text of the bill on Friday, leaving unclear the specific criteria that will be used to determine who qualifies for amnesty.
Rodríguez said the “general amnesty law” would cover “the entire period of political violence, from 1999 to today.” She also explained that those found guilty of murder, drug trafficking, corruption or human rights violations will not be eligible for reparation.
Rodríguez’s government announced plans earlier this month to release a significant number of prisoners in a gesture of goodwill, but relatives of those detained have condemned the slow pace of releases.
“A general amnesty is welcome provided that its elements and conditions include all of civil society, without discrimination, that it does not become a mask of impunity and that it contributes to the dismantling of the repressive apparatus of political persecution,” said Alfredo Romero, president of Foro Penal, on social networks.
The organization has counted 302 versions since the January 8 announcement.
The human rights group Provea denounced in a press release the lack of transparency and the “drop-by-step” pace of prisoner releases. He also stressed that while the release of those still detained “is urgent, the announcement of an amnesty should in no case be intended as a pardon or an act of clemency on the part of the State.”
“We recall that these people were arbitrarily imprisoned for exercising rights protected by international human rights instruments, the national Constitution and Venezuelan laws,” the organization said.
Outside another detention center in Caracas, Edward Ocariz, detained for more than five months after the 2024 elections, joined prisoners’ relatives to demand the quick release of their loved ones.
“We Venezuelans have all endured so much, unjust, unforgiving and violating our dignity. No one deserves this,” Ocariz said. “And today, the culprits continue to govern Venezuela.”
