Venezuela announces amnesty bill : NPR

Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodriguez speaks under a framed image of former President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, during a ceremony marking the opening of the new judicial year at the Supreme Court of Justice in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, January 30, 2026.

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CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez announced an amnesty bill Friday that could lead to the release of hundreds of prisoners, including 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 is the latest concession made by Rodríguez since he took over the country on January 3 following the brazen arrest of then-President Nicolás Maduro in a US military attack on the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.

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.”

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.

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.

Relatives of detainees gather near El Helicoide, Venezuelan intelligence headquarters and detention center, in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, January 30, 2026.

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Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado said in a statement that the announced measures were not taken “voluntarily, but rather in response to pressure from the US 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 and drop” 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.

The U.S. State Department confirmed Friday that all U.S. citizens known to have been detained in Venezuelan prisons have been released. He also announced that Laura Dogu, who will be his top diplomat in Venezuela, would arrive in the capital on Saturday.

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.”