Trump claims Venezuela has released "many political prisoners"

Washington.- U.S. President Donald Trump assured this Tuesday that the government of the acting president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, has released "many political prisoners."

"They have agreed to let them out, I think most of them. It depends on what they have done, but they have released, or rather, they have released many political prisoners in Venezuela," the president pointed out when asked in a press conference about the delay in the releases.

You may be interested in: http://Trump says he could "involve" Maria Corina Machado in the future of Venezuela

The issue of political prisoners in the Caribbean country was one of the topics discussed in the press conference that Trump held at the White House to highlight the achievements of the first year of his second term. In the same press conference, Trump praised Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado for giving him her Nobel Peace Prize medal and suggested he might "involve her" in the political transition in Venezuela. Hours earlier, Machado, visiting Washington, denounced that Chavismo "has manipulated the situation" in Venezuela and that "it is not true that they have released the majority of political prisoners." Upon leaving a meeting with Albert Ramdin, Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Machado lamented that it is a common practice of the Venezuelan authorities to announce that "they are going to release someone and then it doesn't happen, it's a daily torture for the family members who are waiting for them to be released". The acting president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, has assured that 406 releases have already taken place, but has not offered a complete list or a detailed breakdown of political and common cases. For their part, various humanitarian organizations believe that, even if this figure of more than 400 released political prisoners were accepted as valid, around 90% of the 800 to 900 estimated to be imprisoned before the United States intervention on January 3, where Nicolás Maduro was captured, would still be incarcerated.