Hundreds of political prisoners in Venezuela, including opposition leaders, journalists and human rights activists, could soon be released under an amnesty law announced by the country’s acting president on Friday.
The move represents the latest concession made by Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, since the January 3 US arrest of the country’s former leader Nicolás Maduro.
Rodriguez told a group of judges, magistrates, ministers, military officials and other government leaders that the National Assembly, which is controlled by the ruling party, would immediately pass the bill, The Associated Press reported.
“May this law serve to heal the wounds left by the political confrontation fueled by violence and extremism,” she said in the pre-recorded television event, according to the AP. “May it serve to give a new direction to justice in our country, and may it serve to reorient coexistence among Venezuelans.”
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Relatives of people they consider detained for political reasons protest against being held in chains by police guarding the Bolivarian National Police Zona 7 detention center in Caracas, Venezuela, on Friday, January 30, 2026, the same day that acting President Delcy Rodríguez announced an amnesty law. (Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo)
Rodriguez said the amnesty law would cover the “entire period of political violence from 1999 to the present,” and that those imprisoned for murder, drug trafficking, corruption or human rights abuses would not be eligible for relief, the AP reported.
In addition to the amnesty law, Rodriguez announced the closure of Venezuela’s infamous El Helicoide prison in Caracas. Torture and other human rights violations have been repeatedly documented in El Helicoide. According to reports, the facility will be transformed into a sports, social and cultural center.
Alfredo Romero, the head of Foro Penal, Venezuela’s main prisoner rights organization, welcomed the legislation but expressed some skepticism.
“A general amnesty is always welcome as long as its elements and conditions include the entire civil society, without discrimination, that it does not become a blanket of impunity, and that it contributes to the dismantling of the repressive apparatus of political persecution,” Romero said in a speech. message on X.
Relatives of detainees gather near El Helicoide, the headquarters of the Venezuelan intelligence service and a detention center, in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, January 30, 2026, the same day that acting President Delcy Rodríguez announced an amnesty law that could lead to the release of hundreds of prisoners, including opposition leaders, journalists and human rights activists held for political reasons. (Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo)
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Relatives of some prisoners live-streamed Rodríguez’s speech on a phone as they gathered outside Helicoide, the AP said.
Opposition leader and Nobel laureate María Corina Machado said in a statement that the steps were not taken “voluntarily” but rather in response to pressure from the US government, according to the AP. She also reportedly noted that people detained for their political activities were held anywhere from a month to 23 years.
Foro Penal estimates that 711 political prisoners are being held in Venezuela, 183 of whom have been convicted, the AP reported. The newspaper identified prominent opposition members who were detained after the 2024 elections and remain in prison as former lawmaker Freddy Superlano, Machado’s lawyer Perkins Rocha, and Juan Pablo Guanipa, a former governor and one of Machado’s closest allies.
Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodriguez speaks beneath a framed statue of former President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores during a ceremony marking the opening of the new judicial year at the Supreme Court in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, January 30, 2026. (Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo)
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On Friday evening, Venezuela released all known US citizens held in the country.
“We are pleased to confirm the release by interim authorities of all known U.S. citizens detained in Venezuela,” the U.S. Embassy said wrote on X. “If you have information about other U.S. citizens who remain in custody, please contact American Citizen Services.”
