Venezuela Frees Dozens of Prisoners After Trump-Rodríguez Meeting

Venezuelan human rights organizations reported the release of dozens of prisoners across the country on Saturday, though the exact number of those freed remained unclear. The releases came days after a meeting between interim President Delcy Rodríguez and U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The group Clippve said seven political prisoners were freed from a facility on the outskirts of Caracas on Saturday morning. Among them was Wilder Vasquez, a university student sentenced to five years in prison for his alleged role in a 2018 plot to kill former President Nicolás Maduro. Vasquez has maintained his innocence, and his sentence had expired in 2023.

A separate organization, Justicia Encuentro y Perdon, reported that 29 people were released from Venezuelan prisons on Saturday, including 12 inmates on its list of political prisoners. It noted that 17 of those freed were not in its database and that its team was still verifying information to update its registry.

Venezuela's government made no public statement on Saturday's events. The Rodríguez administration denies jailing dissidents, but says it is working to release people investigated or convicted for crimes including attacks on state institutions, as part of efforts to promote national reconciliation.

Hundreds of prisoners have been released since Maduro was captured in January during a U.S. military raid and taken to New York, where he faces drug trafficking charges. Human rights groups argue that Venezuela continues to hold political prisoners. In a message posted Friday, Justicia Encuentro y Perdon said 450 political prisoners remain in the country, including 20 foreigners.

In her address to the UN General Assembly on Thursday, Rodríguez said there "will be elections in Venezuela" but did not specify a date. Democracy activists and human rights groups have called for new elections to give legitimacy to the country's institutions and reflect the will of the people.

Rodríguez, who served as Maduro's vice president, assumed the role of interim leader after his removal and was given a six-month mandate by the nation's supreme court. That mandate has now expired, raising questions about her legitimacy.

At least 1,800 people were arrested in a crackdown following Venezuela's 2024 presidential election, which Maduro was widely accused of stealing. Dozens of opposition activists went into hiding or left the country, including opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who smuggled herself out last year to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Machado has been threatened with arrest by the Rodríguez administration if she returns.