Venezuela has released a “large number” of high-profile political prisoners, including several foreigners, less than a week after its military made an apparent concession to the United States. The kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Thursday’s release was the first since Maduro’s former deputy Delsey Rodriguez She took over as interim leader with the support of US President Donald Trump, who is content to let her rule as long as Washington gives her access to the country’s oil.
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Former Venezuelan opposition candidate Enrique Marquez – who had opposed Maduro in the 2024 presidential election – were released on Thursday.
“Everything is over now,” Marquez said in a video shot by a local journalist of him and his wife, along with another released opposition member, Biagio Pilleri.
Delsey Rodriguez’s brother, Parliament Speaker Jorge Rodríguez, said a large number of Venezuelans and foreign nationals were being released immediately for “peaceful coexistence”.
He did not say which prisoners would be released, how many and from where.
Venezuelan rights NGO Foro Penal estimates that there are more than 800 political prisoners in the country’s prisons.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado welcomed the release in an audio message on social media: “Injustice will not last forever and … the truth, even if wounded, finds its way.”
According to Spain’s Foreign Ministry, five Spanish nationals were freed, including prominent Spanish-Venezuelan activist Rocio San Miguel.
San Miguel has been jailed since February 2024 for plotting to kill Maduro, which she denies.
The White House credited Trump with the prisoners’ freedom.
“This is an example of how the president is maximizing leverage to do the right thing by the American and Venezuelan people,” Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement.
what maduro Caught in a special forces raid In early January, airstrikes and operations that killed 100 people, according to Caracas. Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were taken to New York by the US military Stand trial on drug charges.
Trump has said the US will “run” the Caribbean country for a transitional period and Tap into its oil reserves over the years.
Trump announced plans earlier this week to sell 30 million to 50 million barrels of Venezuela’s crude to the U.S., with Caracas then using the money to buy U.S.-made products. Trump is scheduled to meet with oil executives on Friday.
In an interview with Fox News that aired Thursday night, Trump escalated his threats against drug traffickers, saying he would target cartels in ground attacks.
The U.S. military has already destroyed at least 31 ships in maritime attacks in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean, killing at least 107 people, in attacks that legal experts say violate international law and could amount to war crimes.
Trump also said he will meet Nobel laureate opposition leader Machado in Washington next week.
“I understand she’s coming sometime next week and I’m looking forward to greeting her,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity.
Trump said last week that he does not have the respect or support for Machado to lead the country in Venezuela, and he told Fox News on Thursday that the South American country is not in a position to hold new elections.
“We have to rebuild the country. They can’t have elections,” he said.
“They don’t even know how to hold an election right now.”
Machado has offered to share her Nobel Prize with Trump, who has said he deserves it.
On Thursday, Trump said it was a “huge embarrassment” for Norway that the Norwegian committee did not win the award.