Venezuela opposition leader’s son-in-law freed after 380 days in detention

Release follows a year in detention, his wife says

Rafael Tudares Bracho, the son-in-law of Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González, was released Thursday after being held incommunicado for 380 days, his wife said.

Mariana González said her husband returned home that morning after what she described as “After 380 days of unjust and arbitrary detention — having endured more than a year of the inhumane reality of enforced disappearance.” She said it was a “stoic and profoundly difficult struggle.”

Sentencing came after a rapid trial, wife says

The release followed a sentence of 30 years in prison that, according to the AP report, came about two months earlier.

Mariana González said her husband’s legal process was a sham and that his trial took place in a single 12-hour session on Nov. 28, when he was convicted of “conspiracy, terrorism and criminal association.” She said she was not granted her first visit until Jan. 16, when she was able to see him for 25 minutes for the first time since his arrest.

Part of a “trickle” of releases by the interim government

The AP report said Tudares Bracho’s release came as the interim government has released prisoners in small numbers.

It said the Trump administration praised the releases as a gesture of goodwill to the United States, and it linked the context to Nicolás Maduro’s capture by American forces so he could face drug-trafficking charges, according to the report.

Families press for broader releases

The AP story said the release drew attention from families of people still detained in Venezuela, who held vigils outside prisons and demanded the release of nearly 800 critics, journalists and opposition members whom they described as still imprisoned.

The report cited the continued efforts of those families alongside calls from the opposition for wider detainee releases.

Edmundo González warns against focusing only on a personal case

Edmundo González posted a video on social media hailing his son-in-law’s freedom and calling for the release of other Venezuelans he said remain unjustly detained.

In the video, González said, “It would be a mistake to reduce this event to a personal story,” adding that “There are still men and women who remain deprived of their liberty for political reasons, without guarantees, without due process, and in many cases, without truth.”

Prison rights group figures: 145 verified freed, 775 still detained

The AP report said Venezuela’s leading prisoner rights organization, Foro Penal, had verified the release of 145 people it considers political prisoners as of Tuesday.

It also said at least 775 more remained in detention, according to Foro Penal.