Venezuela releases 39 political prisoners following second round of US-backed talks

CARACAS — Venezuela's interim government freed 39 political prisoners over the weekend, according to the human rights group Justicia, Encuentro y Perdon (JEP), in a move that rights advocates describe as significant but partial.

JEP said the prisoners, described as political dissidents, were released between Friday and Saturday from a series of detention facilities around the country. The group did not publish a complete list of the individuals freed, but said those released included eight women accused in 2021 of belonging to so-called "narco-terrorism" networks and six men accused of having worked with the United States in a foiled 2020 attempt to overthrow then-President Nicolas Maduro.

The releases are the most tangible result yet of a second round of negotiations held on Friday between Venezuela's interim government, led by interim President Delcy Rodriguez, and the political opposition. The talks were carried out with Washington's approval and came four months after US military forces removed Maduro from power in January.

Rodriguez, who served as Maduro's vice president before taking over as interim leader, has been negotiating with the opposition under intense external pressure. A first negotiating round in August centred on recovering Venezuelan assets frozen abroad to fund reconstruction after June's earthquakes, which killed more than 6,300 people, as well as on proposals to reform the country's judiciary.

Human rights organisations have long argued that many of those jailed in Venezuela under Maduro were detained on politically motivated grounds, in some cases for years, without trial. Critics of the current arrangement say the categories of those being released raise questions about whether anyone will face accountability for abuses committed under the previous government.

The pace of releases has nonetheless been widely criticised as slow. Rodriguez enacted an amnesty law in February under US pressure, but the law's effect on the prison population has been incremental, with hundreds of people continuing to serve sentences that rights groups consider politically motivated.

Foro Penal, a rights organisation that tracks political detentions, said 344 people were still classified as political prisoners as of September 18, down from 391 on August 10. On that earlier date, the government said it had released 131 people under a separate programme described as "alternative measures" — a scheme in which some detainees were freed without a full pardon.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at the time that more than 1,000 Venezuelans had been released since Maduro's ouster, describing it as "a crucial step" for the country's reconciliation. The discrepancy between official tallies and those compiled by independent rights groups reflects both differing definitions of who counts as a political prisoner and continued uncertainty over the fate of those held incommunicado or already transferred to military custody.

JEP said in a statement posted on X that it would "remain vigilant" and continue to press for full freedom for all those still detained. The group has repeatedly warned that releases announced by the government do not always translate into freedom, pointing to cases in which released individuals have been re-arrested, placed under restrictive conditions, or denied documentation.

Families of political prisoners have maintained almost daily protests in recent weeks, staging demonstrations outside the US embassy in Caracas and near the El Rodeo I prison, which rights groups have described as a centre where torture has been practised. Images from those protests show demonstrators, including relatives of detainees, holding banners and lighting candles in vigils for the prisoners' release.

The talks now under way appear to be part of a broader effort to stabilise Venezuela's political transition. Rodriguez has publicly gestured toward normalisation, including a promise of elections made at the United Nations, though she has not put forward a date. The eventual holding of a credible vote is likely to be a central condition for the full normalisation of relations with Washington.

Observers say the releases also carry a domestic political function. In a country where the previous leadership criminalised large swathes of the opposition, freeing detainees is the clearest available gesture of good faith — and the clearest evidence, for families of the more than 300 still held, that the process is real but far from finished.

Analysts caution that the coming weeks will determine whether the weekend's releases mark a turning point or another incremental step. Key questions include whether the 344 people still listed as political prisoners are freed or granted clemency individually, whether accountability proceedings for alleged abuses proceed, and whether any of those released are subsequently rearrested.

For now, the relatives gathered outside El Rodeo I and the US embassy say they will keep demonstrating until every last name on their lists comes home. JEP, for its part, has made clear that it considers the campaign unfinished, saying it will continue to demand full freedom for all those still waiting behind bars.