Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez said her government will continue releasing prisoners detained under former President Nicolás Maduro’s rule, framing it as a “new political moment” after Maduro’s ouster by the United States earlier this month.
Rodríguez delivered the remarks at her first press briefing since Maduro was seized and flown to the United States on Jan. 3 to face drug-trafficking charges. She said the process of releasing detainees “has not yet concluded.”
She opened by describing what she called a shift toward a Venezuela that “opens itself to a new political moment,” including “… political and ideological diversity.” The former vice president presented the releases as part of a controlled transition rather than a wholesale break.
In the briefing, Rodríguez pledged “strict” enforcement of the law and said “Crimes related to the constitutional order are being evaluated.” She also said “Messages of hatred, intolerance, acts of violence will not be permitted.”
Rodríguez credited Maduro with starting the prisoner releases as a signal that her government did not intend to abandon the prior approach entirely. She criticized organizations that advocate on behalf of prisoners’ rights and said Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello was coordinating the prisoner releases.
The news came as President Donald Trump said he and Rodríguez spoke in their first contact since Maduro was captured. Trump said he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, adding, “We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” and he said “I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”
Rodríguez did not mention the United States during her remarks, and she took no questions. She stood alongside her brother and National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez as well as Cabello, while the focus of her comments remained on the releases.
Rights groups have said many detainees remain in custody. A Venezuelan human rights organization estimates that about 800 political prisoners are still being detained, including political leaders, soldiers, lawyers and members of civil society.
Foro Penal, a leading Venezuelan prisoner-rights organization, said it had verified at least 72 prisoners freed since Rodríguez’s interim government raised hopes for a mass release with a promise to free a “significant number” of prisoners. Foro Penal reported the release Wednesday of at least a dozen people imprisoned for political reasons, including political activist Nicmer Evans and journalist Roland Carreño, and it said Julio Balza and Gabriel González were also freed, according to Machado campaign staff and announced by Machado’s party.
Rodríguez’s briefing also featured differing tallies about the scope of releases. She said Maduro oversaw the release of 194 prisoners in December and she claimed that 406 prisoners had been released since December, which she said meant her caretaker government freed 212 detainees. Foro Penal, however, estimates that over 800 prisoners are still being held on political grounds and has criticized the government’s lack of transparency.
In a separate comment, Ronal Rodríguez, a researcher at the Venezuela Observatory in Colombia’s Universidad del Rosario, said the government was trying to balance messages at home and abroad and described the strategy as a “game.”