Venezuela on Thursday released a number of imprisoned high-profile opposition figures, activists and journalists in what the government described as a gesture to “seek peace” less than a week after then-Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro was captured by US forces to face drug-trafficking charges.
US President Donald Trump, who has been pressuring Maduro allies now leading the country to fold to his vision for the future of the oil-rich nation, said the releases came at the request of Washington.
Trump in an interview praised the government of Venezuelan acting president Delcy Rodriguez, saying: “they’ve been great ... Everything we’ve wanted, they’ve given us.”
Photo: AFP
The US government and Venezuela’s opposition have long demanded the widespread release of imprisoned politicians, critics and members of civil society.
The Venezuelan government insists it does not hold prisoners for political reasons.
Among those released was Biagio Pilieri, an opposition leader who was part of Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado’s 2024 presidential campaign, according to Foro Penal, an advocacy group for prisoners.
Also released was Enrique Marquez, a former electoral authority and candidate in the 2024 presidential election, the organization said.
Videos posted by journalists on social media show Marquez and Pilieri embracing loved ones on the streets outside the prison.
Five Spanish citizens — including the prominent Venezuelan-Spanish lawyer and human rights activist Rocio San Miguel — were also released in the afternoon and, as the night wore on, reports trickled out of more detainees walking free.
Relatives who waited for hours outside a prison in Guatire briefly chanted, “Libertad! Libertad!” meaning “Freedom! Freedom!”
Human rights groups and members of the opposition were encouraged by the move, although it was not clear yet what it represented — whether the growing pains of a government in transition or a symbolic overture to placate the Trump administration.
The Spanish government said that five of its citizens, including dual national San Miguel, had been released from custody in Venezuela and would soon return to Spain.
Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Jose Manuel Albares identified the other Spanish nationals released as Andres Martinez, Jose Maria Basoa, Ernesto Gorbe and Miguel Moreno.
Martinez and Basoa were arrested in Venezuela in September 2024 and accused of plotting to destabilize Maduro’s government as Spanish spies — allegations vehemently denied by Spain.
Gorbe was arrested in 2024 on allegations of overstaying his visa.
Families wait outside prisons
As the news of the release broke, families of detainees rushed to prisons across the country, seeking information on their loved ones.
Pedro Duran, 60, was among those hoping to reunite with his brother, Franklin Duran, as he waited outside the prison in Guatire.
Duran said his brother was detained in 2021 on charges of trying to overthrow Maduro’s government — an accusation his family denies.
Duran, who has been living in Spain, heard rumors on Wednesday that the government could release a number of detainees and immediately bought a plane ticket from Madrid to Caracas to find his brother.
“I don’t have words to express the emotion I’m feeling,” Duran said. “We’re feeling a lot of hope ... We’re just waiting now.”
Despite the anticipation, fear persists.
“Of course everyone here is very scared, but what more could [the government] do to us that they haven’t done already,” he added.
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