In Venezuela, the government has released more than 100 more political prisoners, according to a non-governmental organization.
01/26/2026, 04:2101/26/2026, 04:21
The exact number is still being checked and could rise, wrote the head of the NGO Foro Penal, Alfredo Romero, on the X platform. Since the US military operation in Venezuela to arrest the authoritarian head of state Nicolás Maduro on January 3, the government of the South American country has released a number of political prisoners.
Delcy Rodríguez is Maduro’s heiress.Image: keystone
The new releases bring the number of people released after the US operation to at least 240 people, according to various organizations. According to Foro Penal’s previous information, more than 700 political prisoners were still in custody as of last week. The government in Caracas speaks of a total of 626 releases, but since December. The release of political prisoners is one of the opposition’s biggest demands.
President Rodríguez also wants to work with critics
Acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was vice president under Maduro, reiterated her willingness to work with the opposition over the weekend. “There must be no political or party differences when it comes to peace in Venezuela,” she said.
However, Rodríguez criticized Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado without mentioning her by name. “It is shameful to see a Venezuelan who calls herself a Venezuelan thanking the bombing and military aggression against Venezuela,” she said. Machado presented her Nobel Prize medal to US President Donald Trump at the White House in mid-January.
After Maduro’s capture, Rodríguez is the figure within the Venezuelan government with whom Washington is negotiating directly – especially over the management of the country’s large oil reserves. Maduro is now in prison in New York. He is to be tried for alleged drug offenses. (sda/dpa)