Venezuela promised to free political prisoners, but their families are still waiting

CARACAS, Venezuela — The joy sparked by the announcement that Venezuela would release a “significant number” of prisoners gave way to anguish for many of their loved ones. A week later, a fraction of the more than 800 political prisoners believed to be held by the repressive regime are released, and the future of those released is uncertain.

“We don’t know how many people will be released. (…) This opacity victimizes us once again,” said María Constanza Cipriani, whose husband, Perkins Rocha, has been detained for almost 19 months.

Rocha, lawyer for opposition leader María Corina Machado, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, was arrested after the 2024 elections and held incommunicado for a year, according to Cipriani. It is located in the spiral-shaped El Helicoide prison, infamous as a torture center. Cipriani said prison officials have allowed calls every few days in recent months, and she described her husband as “serene,” “calm and strong” during their last conversation.

However, she is consumed by anxiety.

“I follow what credible social media accounts report and I cling to that – nothing else,” she said. “Where is this process?

Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodríguez pledged to continue releasing prisoners during a news conference Wednesday, saying the government was entering a “new political moment.”

She said the process of releasing hundreds of detainees “is not yet complete.”

The Venezuelan government announced Monday that 166 prisoners had been released, but did not provide a list of names or evidence. On Tuesday, the president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, Rodríguez’s brother Jorge Rodríguez, said more than 400 people had been freed, but that figure includes two sets of releases carried out before Nicolás Maduro’s capture by the United States on January 3.

Human rights groups dispute these figures. Foro Penal, a leading rights organization that tracks and advocates for Venezuelan prisoners, says 79 was released Wednesday evening. It is estimated that between 800 and 900 political prisoners were incarcerated in Venezuela at the time of Maduro’s capture.

The State Department announced Tuesday that several Americans detained in Venezuela had been released. Several detainees of Spanish nationality were also released last week.

Diego Casanova, a spokesman for the Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners, told NBC News that members of the group have visited prisons across the country to await release. According to him, concern has increased because unofficial lists of political prisoners and names have been circulating, but so far nothing has been confirmed.

“If only partial releases take place, it means that the repressive policy continues. All these people will remain unjustly detained, which is why we insisted on the complete and immediate release of all political prisoners,” he said.

Even after their release, former political prisoners are not completely free, Casanova said. They are not considered political prisoners by the government, but rather “politicians who broke the law and called for invasion,” Rodríguez said in a recent speech.

For example, they must appear in court periodically to prove that they are in the country and have complied with the orders.

“The judicial process remains open, which is very unfair because the crimes they are accused of are lies,” Casanova said.

The interim government is intensifying its crackdown on citizens, looking for signs of support for Maduro’s capture. Fifteen minors and two 18-year-olds were arrested last week in Barcelona, ​​Anzoátegui state, for allegedly celebrating the American operation. Within 48 hours, they were taken to court, where the judge ordered their continued detention.

The 15 people were released on Tuesday following sustained pressure from their parents and neighbors. But the two 18-year-olds remain detained.

Meanwhile, contacts continue between President Donald Trump and Venezuelan leaders.

Trump spoke with Rodríguez on Wednesday, and both described the call as positive.

“We just had a great conversation today, and he’s a great person,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “I think we get along very well with Venezuela.”

Machado met with Trump at the White House on Thursday, after dismissing his ability to lead the country. “She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have respect in the country. (…) I think it would be very difficult for her to be the head of the country,” Trump said at a press conference on January 3 after the US military operation that captured Maduro.

Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia, whom the United States recognized as the winner of last year’s presidential election, have also raised concerns about irregularities in recent prisoner releases.

“Our message to the regime, Venezuela and the international community is unambiguous: a true democratic transition is impossible while political prisoners remain behind bars, and Venezuela cannot be truly free while anyone is persecuted for their political beliefs. » they said in a statement released Tuesday.

They also denounced the death of Edilson Torres on Saturday in prison, where he was held incommunicado. The family of Torres, a police officer, was awaiting his release when he died of a heart attack. He was jailed in December for criticizing the government via WhatsApp messages. According to Machado and González Urrutia, this is the eighth death in state custody since the 2024 elections.