Venezuela frees only 9 political prisoners
GUATIRE, Venezuela—A day after Venezuela ’s government pledged to free what it described as a significant number of prisoners, a local human rights group said only nine people had been released, or just over 1 percent of the citizens and foreigners it says are detained in the country for political reasons.
Relatives of the detainees—a combination of activists, journalists and political opponents of the ruling party—spent all Friday waiting outside prisons across the country, hoping they might see their loved ones walk free.
US request
Footage of prisoners being released and reunited with their tearful families spread online, prompting celebration from Venezuela’s now-sidelined opposition movement and lifting spirits in the country now led by the former loyalists of ex-President Nicolás Maduro.
As of late Friday, five Spanish citizens, two political activists and two high-profile members of the opposition had been freed.
The government has not identified or offered a count of the prisoners being considered for release, leaving rights groups scouring for hints of information and families to watch the hours tick by with no word. President Donald Trump has hailed the release and said it came at Washington’s request.
On vigil
An impromptu support group formed outside El Rodeo prison, a notorious facility in the town of Guatire, around an hour east of Caracas.
Dozens of people waiting for news of loved ones gathered to share food, Wi-Fi service, coffee and phone chargers. As the day wore on, doubts mounted. Hope mixed with frustration, then despair. Some family members were briefly and visibly overcome with emotion. Others moved to comfort them.
Many, like Noirelys Morillo, said they’d wait as long as it took—even if it meant sleeping in an open field outside the prison complex Friday night.
“We’re going to stay here until we receive him,” said Morillo, who drove 10 hours to El Rodeo with her mother in hopes of seeing her brother released after five months behind bars.
‘Political reasons’
Like many other inmates, he was accused of terrorism, detained without evidence and held incommunicado. After his disappearance, Morillo and her family worked their own sources to find out where he was being held.
“My nephew keeps asking about his dad, and we don’t know what to tell him anymore,” she said from outside El Rodeo. “The first few days we told him he was on vacation.”
Negotiating chips
Foro Penal, an advocacy group for prisoners based in Caracas, said that by Friday morning it had only documented the release of nine of the 811 people it says are detained in Venezuela for “political reasons.” The Venezuelan government denies the existence of political prisoners.
In a video message on social media, former opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzaléz, who ran against Maduro in the tumultuous 2024 presidential election, hailed the releases and urged those still waiting to “stay strong.”
“It deeply gladdens me to see the embrace of those who have already been able to reunite,” he said.
Among those still waiting was his daughter Mariana Gonzalez, whose husband was arrested a year ago on his way to drop off their young children at school. She still doesn’t know where he is detained, and went to El Rodeo on Thursday and Friday searching for information on his whereabouts—to no avail.
Under Maduro, Venezuela imprisoned opposition figures and foreign citizens to use as negotiating chips with other countries, experts say.
Not enough
The latest releases were widely seen as a sign that interim President Delcy Rodríguez is willing to cooperate with the United States—even as much remains unclear
Human rights groups said the release of just nine people was not nearly enough.
“Freedom cannot remain in statements: it must materialize in verifiable facts,” read a statement from Justice, Encounter, and Forgiveness, a Venezuelan advocacy group.
