The Venezuelan human rights group “Foro Penal“ said on Monday that authorities had released 35 political prisoners and were investigating additional cases as the interim government continued to release prisoners under pressure from the United States, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
The human rights group has already confirmed the release of more than 400 prisoners after “the government announced a new wave of political pardons for prisoners on January 8“.
Among those released today are Freddy Superlano, head of the leading opposition party “Voluntad Popular” ("Popular Will") and Juan Pablo Guanipa, a close ally of Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado, who was being held in a detention center in the capital Caracas.
Superlano was arrested after the 2024 presidential election and was filmed being pushed into the trunk of an unmarked car surrounded by armed security agents. The NGO said he was among 35 people released yesterday by the government in Caracas, which is under pressure from the United States to release political prisoners.
“Today we were freed,“ Guanipa said in a video posted on the social network “Ex“. "There is much to discuss about the present and future of Venezuela, always with the truth at the forefront," he added.
Guanipa was detained in late May and accused by Interior Minister Diosado Cabello of participating in an alleged "terrorist group" that was planning a plot to boycott the parliamentary elections scheduled for later that month. Guanipa's brother – Thomas, denied the charges and said the arrest was aimed at silencing him.
The release of Juan Pablo Guanipa came after pressure mounted on the government of interim President Delcy Rodriguez to release all those whose detentions months or years ago their families or non-governmental organizations linked to their political beliefs.
Prominent lawyer Perkins Rocha, another close ally of Machado, was also released from prison, his relatives said.
Machado herself welcomed the prisoners' release and called for the release of all those detained for political reasons.
Meanwhile, another Venezuelan opposition leader - Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who lives in exile in Spain - today called for the "immediate release" of to all political prisoners, after expressing satisfaction with the release of Guanipa.
“These releases are not synonymous with full and complete freedom. As long as the legal proceedings remain open and the restrictive measures, threats or surveillance remain, the persecution continues“, he added in a post on the social network “Ex“.