CNN- Venezuela said on Thursday it would release “a significant number” of prisoners in a move its government framed as a gesture “to seek peace.”
National Assembly president Jorge Rodríguez said the releases were “taking place immediately” and would include both Venezuelans and foreign nationals, though he did not specify how many or exactly who would be released. The move, he said in a message broadcast on the public television channel TeleSur, was meant to contribute to “national unity.”
It comes just days after the US captured Venezuela’s longtime authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro in a stunning military raid and took him to New York to face drug trafficking charges.
Since the raid, US officials have been working to establish a pliant interim government in Venezuela and have demanded, among other things, that Venezuela release its political prisoners, according to a source familiar with the US administration’s briefing with key lawmakers this week.
Following the announcement by Rodríguez, the Spanish Foreign Ministry confirmed that five Spaniards – one of whom has dual citizenship – had been freed and were preparing to fly to Spain with assistance from the embassy.
“Spain, which maintains fraternal relations with the Venezuelan people, welcomes this decision as a positive step in the new phase that Venezuela is entering,” the ministry said.
Days before the US captured Maduro, a US official told CNN that Venezuelan security forces had detained at least five Americans in recent months. The Trump administration believed the Americans had been detained as leverage, the official said, adding that while their cases varied, some may have been involved in drug smuggling.
It is unclear whether any of the five will be among those released.
In a post on X, Venezuelan activist Alfredo Romero said that his human rights organization, the Penal Forum, would be “verifying each release.”
The Committee for the Liberation of Political Prisoners in Venezuela (CLIPPVE) demanded “swift action and transparency” in the government’s release of the detainees.
“There continues to be a great lack of transparency and ample discretion in the handling of these releases, increasing the anxiety, anguish, and uncertainty of family members and political prisoners,” CLIPPVE said in a statement.
El Helicoide, the headquarters of Venezuela’s intelligence service and detention center, on Jan. 8, after Caracas said it would release Venezuelan and foreign prisoners. Matias Delacroix/AP
A history of stifling dissent
Both the Venezuelan opposition and foreign governments have long accused Maduro’s government of taking political prisoners, though Caracas has dismissed international reports on arbitrary detentions as “irresponsible, biased” and “interventionist.”
In the aftermath of Venezuela’s disputed 2024 presidential election, which Maduro claimed as a victory despite a chorus of independent observers labeling the vote as undemocratic, more than 2,000 people were arrested in a subsequent crackdown by government forces, according to Amnesty International.
Many of these detainees are held in a detention facility in Caracas known as El Helicoide.
Originally constructed to be a shopping mall, the imposing structure now serves as the headquarters of Venezuela’s intelligence services and a notorious prison.
Venezuela has also faced allegations of mistreating its political prisoners held in El Helicoide and elsewhere.
A 2025 investigation from Human Rights Watch (HRW) found that many political prisoners were held incommunicado for extended periods, denied visits from their families and legal representatives.
HRW Americas director Juanita Goebertus described the treatment of political prisoners as “a chilling testament to the brutality of repression in Venezuela.”
Since Maduro’s ousting, many Venezuelans have voiced fears his successor, acting president Delcy Rodríguez, would continue or even intensify this policy.
On Monday, Venezuelan officials imposed a decree granting broad powers to the presidency and ordering security forces to capture “any person involved in the promotion or support” of the weekend attack by the US.
Political prisoners had their visiting rights suspended and were prevented from communicating with the outside world, according to CLIPPVE.
CNN’s Michael Rios, Alayna Treene, Kristen Holmes, and Jennifer Hansler contributed.
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“The lesser of both evil folks”..This is what I asked GB to chose over the past months I’ve been imploring him.
But when you’re in bed with people for your own gain, country be damn.
Now who turned out to be correct?
” Friends to all and enemy to none” my back-foot.
Diplomacy is not just having conversations, it’s also knowing when to position yourself on the winning side.
This is not about liking for Trump or Hate for Venezuela, this is just smart diplomacy.
Now we have come out of this with nothing, and in a worst position than we were in to begin with.
Who’s failure is that?
And you notice China and Russia ain’t saying much, because they know their policies do not fit well in Carribean politics. They are still shock that they even got in the first place, so they don’t want to ruffle any feathers.
But we as Carribean people always had the good graces of America on our side, and GB in the worst of times, especially with who is running the white house, decided to go make his bed more comfortable with the wrong people.
Who’s failure is that?
Who terrible diplomacy is displayed here?
“Lesser of two evils”.that’s always been the mark of good diplomacy,always.
Like it or not.
Russia gets Ukraine back in the Russian Republic; China absorbs Taiwan and America gets LATAM The Caribbean and Western Europe.
That’s the game being played.
What does it take for you all to understand that?
In his normal life of greed your illustrious nut strategically ignorant leader missed the play.
With a guy like Trump and a naive mouthy mouthy dirty mouth Prime Minister this is the result.
Just Saying…..Some of you on here are so clueless WOW…..No one is getting nothing……Venezuela will be back to normal governed by new pro western leadership no more socialist government…..They will no longer do any business with Russia going forward….Russia is going to get the hell out of Ukraine eventually because they are getting nowhere fast NATO especially the US keep sending them fire power…….China would NEVER dear go to Taiwan they don’t have the fire power or enough help to save them from the US + Japan, South Korea, UK, Germany, France, Canada, Australia etc……