How many political prisoners are incarcerated in Venezuela?

A "significant number" of detainees for political reasons, including foreigners, are released in Venezuela, announced Thursday Jorge Rodríguez, the head of Parliament, without giving further details. This is about the first releases under the interim of Delcy Rodríguez, who assumed functions temporarily after a U.S. military operation on January 3 in which they captured the deposed president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Most political prisoners in Venezuela were arrested after the 2024 presidential elections, a process marked by the denunciation of fraud by the Democratic Unity Platform (PUD), which questioned the re-election of Nicolás Maduro after the proclamation of his victory by an electoral body that did not disseminate disaggregated results of the contest, according to data released by Foro Penal. In that context, more than 2,400 people were apprehended, although most were subsequently released. The Prosecutor's Office accused them of being "terrorists," while several non-governmental organizations and opposition parties maintain that they are innocent and are political prisoners.

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According to the bulletin from Foro Penal published on December 29, there are 863 people classified as political prisoners, of whom 757 are men and 106 are women. In the context of recent political events, the organization Justice, Encounter and Forgiveness (JEP) denounced this Wednesday a "pattern of hardening" in the treatment of political prisoners, highlighting the suspension of visits and the delivery of packages, which includes food, medicine and other supplies. According to the JEP report on the social network X, these measures were implemented "without official information or transparent criteria" and have intensified the uncertainty among Venezuelan families following the capture operation of Maduro and Cilia Flores by US forces. The detention of Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores, which occurred early Saturday morning during a U.S. military operation, altered the country's political landscape and has provoked immediate reactions from social and political actors. Following the operation, the Democratic Unity Platform (PUD), the main opposition coalition, declared that the release of political prisoners constitutes an indispensable preliminary step for a possible transition. The climate of tension and uncertainty has been aggravated, according to Justice, Encounter and Forgiveness, by the application of new restrictions in detention centers, while different organizations and opposition spokespersons insist that any process of national reconciliation requires the cessation of political persecution and the beginning of a stage of dialogue. Faced with the situation opened after the capture of Maduro and Flores, the organization Foro Penal proposed this Sunday a general amnesty for people considered political prisoners, calling this measure a gesture of relevance to "unify the Venezuelan population." The vice-director of Foro Penal, Gonzalo Himiob, demanded "immediate freedom, without conditions or tricks," while the director president, Alfredo Romero, affirmed that the general amnesty would not imply "guaranteeing impunity for crimes against humanity." Romero pointed out on his X account the willingness of Foro Penal to contribute what is necessary to the process. Simultaneously, the Democratic Unitary Platform insisted on the urgency of the "immediate release of all political prisoners" as a prerequisite for the transition and national reconciliation. According to the coalition, unity and overcoming political persecution require the release of those they consider unjustly detained. In the same vein, María Corina Machado emphasized that the release of these people is one of the essential steps to move towards a new political stage.