Venezuela grants amnesty to 379 political prisoners

Venezuelan authorities have granted amnesty to 379 political prisoners, a lawmaker said Friday, after a new law was enacted by interim authorities following the US toppling of former leader Nicolas Maduro.

Venezuela's National Assembly unanimously adopted the law a day before, providing hope that hundreds of political prisoners behind bars may soon be released.

National Assembly deputy Jorge Arreaza, the lawmaker overseeing the amnesty process, said in a televised interview on Friday that the 379 prisoners "must be released, granted amnesty, between tonight and tomorrow morning."

"Requests have been submitted by the Public Prosecutor's Office to the competent courts to grant amnesty measures," he said.

Opposition figures have criticized the new legislation, which appears to include carveouts for some offenses previously used by authorities to target Maduro's political opponents.

It explicitly does not apply to those prosecuted for "promoting" or "facilitating... armed or forceful actions" against Venezuela's sovereignty by foreign actors.

Interim President Delcy Rodriguez has leveled such accusations against opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who hopes to return to Venezuela at some point from the United States.

The law also excludes members of the security forces convicted of "terrorism"-related activities.

Venezuela's National Assembly member Nora Bracho speaks during a press conference in Caracas, Venezuela, on Friday. Reuters

"Many of us are aware that the amnesty law does not cover our relatives," Hiowanka Avila, 39, told AFP outside the Rodeo 1 prison near Caracas, where many of the detainees are ex-soldiers or officers.

Her brother Henryberth Rivas, 30, was arrested in 2018 for allegedly taking part in an assassination attempt against Maduro using armed drones.

Arreaza said earlier that "the military justice system will handle" relevant cases for members of the armed forces, "and grant benefits where appropriate."

A long wait

Many relatives of prisoners across Venezuela have waited outside jails for weeks for the potential release of their loved ones.

Hundreds have already been granted conditional release by Interim President Delcy Rodriguez's government since the deadly US raid that seized Maduro.

The NGO Foro Penal had said before the announcement that some 650 were detained, a toll that has not been updated since.

Foro Penal director Alfredo Romero said on Friday that receiving "amnesty is not automatic," but would require a process in the courts, viewed by many as an arm of Maduro's repression.

Rodriguez defended her government Friday in a speech on state television, saying "we are building a more democratic, more just, and freer Venezuela, and it must be with the effort of everyone."

'Completely free'

Opposition politician Juan Pablo Guanipa, a Machado ally, announced his release from detention shortly after the bill was passed.

Earlier this month he had been freed from prison but then quickly re-detained and kept under house arrest.

"I am now completely free," Guanipa wrote on social media.

Venezuelan political leader Juan Pablo Guanipa speaks with a journalist after he had been granted “full freedom” just hours after the approval of a historic amnesty law in Parliament. AFP

He called for all other political prisoners to be freed and exiles to be allowed to return.

Earlier on Friday, he rallied with supporters in his hometown of Maracaibo, Venezuela's second city.

The legislation has also faced criticism from rights groups over its potential use to excuse abuses under Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chavez.

Exiled Venezuelan opposition figurehead Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia on Friday said there would be "no lasting reconciliation without memory or responsibility" in his country.

"A responsible amnesty is the transition from fear to the rule of law. It is the pledge that power will not be exercised again without limits and that the law will be above force," Gonzalez Urrutia wrote on X.

Exiled in Spain, Gonzalez Urrutia is widely considered the rightful victor of 2024 presidential elections marred by fraud allegations in which Maduro was declared the winner.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Venezuelans have been jailed in recent years over plots, real or imagined, to overthrow the government of Maduro -- who was taken to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking and other charges.

Rodriguez was formerly Maduro's vice president and took his place as the South American country's leader with the consent of US President Donald Trump, provided that she toe Washington's line.

The United States has taken over control of Venezuela's oil sales, with Trump vowing a share for Washington in the profits.

Agence France-Presse