Feb 8 (Reuters) – Venezuelan opposition politician Juan Pablo Guanipa has been freed from jail, his family said in a statement on Sunday, the latest high-profile release by the government in Caracas, which is under pressure from the U.S. to free political prisoners.
Rights group Foro Penal said 11 political prisoners were released on Sunday and that it was verifying additional cases. The organization previously confirmed that 383 political prisoners had been let go since the Venezuelan government announced on January 8 that it would begin a new series of releases.
Guanipa, a well-known politician in Venezuela and a close ally of Nobel Peace Prize winner and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, was arrested in May 2025 after months in hiding for allegedly leading a terrorist plot. His family and political movement have strenuously denied the allegations.
Earlier this month, Guanipa’s family said they had been able to see him in person for the first time in months, and that he was in good physical health.
“Ten months in hiding and almost nine months detained here,” Guanipa said on Sunday after being released. “There’s a lot to talk about regarding the present and future of Venezuela, always with the truth front and center.”
Machado on Sunday celebrated Guanipa’s release in a statement on X, calling for all political prisoners to be released.
Venezuela’s opposition and human rights groups have said for years that the country’s socialist government uses detentions to stamp out dissent.
The government denies holding political prisoners and says those jailed have committed crimes. Officials have given a much higher figure of releases, of nearly 900, but have not been clear about the timeline and appear to be including releases from previous years in their count. The government has never provided an official list of how many prisoners will be released nor who they are.
AMNESTY LEGISLATION UNDER CONSIDERATION
Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez also has announced a proposed “amnesty law” for hundreds of prisoners in the country, and said the infamous Helicoide detention center in Caracas, which rights groups have long denounced as the site of prisoner abuse, will be converted into a center for sport and social services in the capital.
The legislation, which would grant immediate clemency to people jailed for participating in political protests or critiquing public figures, return assets of those detained and cancel Interpol and other international measures previously issued by the government – passed in an initial vote at the National Assembly this week. It will need to be approved a second time to become law.
Rodriguez, who took office after the U.S. captured and deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro last month, has been releasing the political prisoners and complying with U.S. demands on oil deals.
(Reporting by Reuters newsroom; Editing by Paul Simao)
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