Venezuela releases dozens of prisoners following meeting between Trump and interim leader

Venezuela Announces Large‑Format Release of Political Detainees After Secret Talk with U.S. President

BOGOA, COLOMBIA — Human‑rights groups report that a large number of political prisoners were released in Venezuela on Saturday, although the total figure has not yet been confirmed.

The prisoner releases follow a meeting on Tuesday between interim President Delcy Rodríguez and U.S. President Donald Trump at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. At her remarks at the UN, Rodríguez asserted that Venezuela, long criticized for imprisoning dissenters, undermining electoral integrity and suppressing free expression, began a transition toward democracy.

On X, the Venezuelan collectives Clin — Clippere — announced that seven political detainees were liberated from a prison on the outskirts of Caracas early Saturday. Among them was Wilder Vasquez, a university student once convicted to five years for his role in a 2018 plot to assassinate former President Nicolás Maduro. Vasquez maintains his innocence, noting that his prior sentence had been vacated in 2023.

An additional X update cited Justicia Encuentro y Perdon, stating that thirty‑nine individuals, including twelve listed as political prisoners, were released from Venezuelan facilities Saturday.

“Seventeen of the freed persons were not previously recorded in the group’s political‑prisoner database,” the organization stated. “Our team is currently validating the information to refresh the register.”

The Venezuelan authorities issued no comment on the day’s developments.

Rodríguez’s office refuted claims that dissenters were being jailed, indicating instead that the state is concentrating on releasing individuals indicted for attacks on national institutions as part of a push for national reconciliation.

Since the capture of Maduro in January during a U.S. operation, hundreds of people have been freed from Venezuelan prisons, yet many human‑rights bodies continue to document political detention. Justiça Encuentro y Perdon earlier noted that approximately four hundred political prisoners remain held in the country, including twenty foreign nationals.

During a United Nations General Assembly appearance on Thursday, Rodríguez outlined plans for “elections to be held in Venezuela,” though a specific date was omitted.

Advocates of democracy argue that fresh constitutional contests are needed to legitimize state institutions and reflect popular will. Following the disputed 2024 presidential vote allegedly obtained by Maduro, a large crackdown resulted in the detention of over 1,800 individuals; opposing activists retreated, with several—such as Maria Corina Machado, a former exile—facing threats of arrest upon her return.

Machado has been subject to arrest orders by the Rodríguez regime if she re‑enters the country.

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