Jan 14 (Reuters) – Venezuelan politician and journalist Roland Carreno was freed on Wednesday in an ongoing prisoner release, and the government promised more liberations would come.
The releases, announced last week, are moving slowly, according to advocacy groups and families. Human rights organizations count some 800 political prisoners in the country, but just dozens have been freed, they say.
So far, 72 political prisoners have been released, according to rights group Foro Penal. Acting President Delcy Rodriguez said later on Wednesday that 406 people had been released, though it was unclear what time period she was referring to or whether those included planned releases.
“Crimes related to constitutional order, hate crimes, violence and intolerance are being evaluated (for planned releases),” Rodriguez told journalists.
SPANIARDS, AMERICANS, PERUVIAN SET FREE
Crimes such as homicide and drug trafficking will be excluded from eligibility, she added.
Many of those the opposition and rights groups consider to be political prisoners are accused of crimes such as treason and acts of violence, which they deny.
Those released include Spaniards, Americans and a Peruvian, according to each country’s government. The U.S. State Department celebrated the move on Tuesday, but did not confirm how many Americans were released or their identities.
The release of political prisoners in the South American country is a long-running demand of rights groups, international bodies and opposition figures, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, who has several close allies imprisoned.
Both Venezuela’s top lawmaker, Jorge Rodriguez, the brother of acting President Rodriguez, and U.S. President Donald Trump have said the releases are a gesture of peace. Trump said he canceled a second wave of attacks on Venezuela following its cooperation.
For years, Venezuela’s opposition and human rights groups have said the government uses detentions to stamp out dissent, a charge authorities have consistently denied. There is no official list of exactly how many prisoners will be released, nor who they are.
The releases come after the U.S. capture of President Nicolas Maduro, his arraignment in a New York court on narcoterrorism charges, Rodriguez’s interim swearing-in, and the announcement that the U.S. would refine and sell up to 50 million barrels of crude oil stuck in Venezuela under U.S. sanctions.
Carreno is a former operations director for opposition party Voluntad Popular who was detained in October 2020, released in 2023 and then arrested again in 2024.
The families of both prominent and little-known detainees have anxiously awaited news, with many gathering outside prisons or visiting multiple detention centers in attempts to discover where loved ones are held.
Among prominent detained figures are opposition politician Juan Pablo Guanipa and lawyer Perkins Rocha, both close allies of Machado, Rafael Tudares, son-in-law of the opposition’s former presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, Voluntad Popular leader Freddy Superlano and Javier Tarazona, the director of a nongovernmental organization that tracks alleged abuses by Colombian armed groups and the Venezuelan military.
(Reporting by ReutersEditing by Rod Nickel)
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