Venezuela says it will release an ‘important number’ of political prisoners

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Venezuela is releasing an “important number” of political prisoners, including foreigners, the head of the country’s legislature said on Thursday.

The announcement could be the first sign that the new government is open to returning some freedom of expression to the country, and bending to pressure from opposition groups and the American government.

The move has been taken as “a unilateral gesture to maintain the peace and in order to secure our unbreakable decision to consolidate peace in the Republic, and peaceful coexistence,” Jorge Rodríguez, who is the older brother of the country’s new president, Delcy Rodríguez, told reporters.

Jorge Rodríguez said the process of releasing prisoners has already begun.

He did not offer details as to who would be released or by when. The State Department declined to comment on the announcement.

Venezuela holds between 800 and 900 political prisoners, according to rights groups, most of them swept up under the leadership of Nicolás Maduro, whose was captured by U.S. forces on Saturday.

The South American country has imprisoned several Americans over the years. They released six detained Americans in January 2025, after Trump’s envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell, held talks with Maduro in Caracas.

Families of those imprisoned and opposition groups have been calling for such a move, and putting pressure on the American government for their release.

María Constanza Cipriani, wife of Perkins Rocha, an imprisoned personal adviser to opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado, said she did not know if her husband was to be released and felt overwhelming anxiety.

“My heart is in my mouth,” she told NBC News. “I am very tough, but this situation makes my hair stand on end.”

Rocha was detained in August 2024 after Maduro won elections that are widely believed to be illegitimate. He was held incommunicado in the infamous Helicoide prison in Caracas for a year, during which time Cipriani did not see or speak with him. He has not been allowed a private legal defense.

During remarks on Tuesday, Trump seemed to reference the Helicoide prison when he said Venezuelans “have a torture chamber in the middle of Caracas that they’re closing up.”

“My heart began to fill with hope,” Cipriani said of hearing about Trump’s remarks.

“I am waiting to receive the call, hoping that Perkins is on the list of those who will be released,” she added. “And if he’s not, I know it will happen soon anyway because his only sin has been fighting for the truth.”

F. Brinley Bruton reported from Bogotá, and Carmen Sesin from Miami.