US urges Venezuela to release remaining political prisoners

The United States has called on Venezuela to release the remaining political prisoners held within its borders. Since the country's leader, Nicolás Maduro, was seized by US forces in a military operation in Caracas on January 3rd, over 1,000 political detainees have been released. However, according to the Venezuelan prisoners’ rights group Foro Penal, 322 individuals are still detained.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with his Venezuelan counterpart, Oliver Blanco, on Monday and urged for their immediate release. The meeting also covered discussions on reforms necessary for upcoming free, fair, and credible elections. Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025, returned to Venezuela on October 25th after living in exile for a year.

One of her first actions was meeting with relatives of political prisoners in detention. Many of those incarcerated were arrested following the contentious 2024 presidential election, in which Maduro was declared the winner despite opposition claims of victory based on voting tallies and verification by independent media. The Carter Center, which sent observers to Venezuela, concluded that the election was "not democratic" due to the dominance of government-aligned members in the National Electoral Council (CNE) and a harsh crackdown on perceived political opponents.

Following Maduro's seizure, his loyal vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez, assumed interim presidency, backed by the US Trump administration. However, opposition parties within Venezuela have expressed frustration with the pace of reforms. The US state department reiterated its commitment to Trump's three-phase plan: stabilization, economic recovery, and political reconciliation, and democratic transition.

Rubio previously stated that Venezuela's electoral infrastructure must be replaced for elections to be considered valid, emphasizing the need for swift action. Rodríguez later assured Venezuelans that elections would occur under a "renewed" electoral authority, though no specific timeline was provided. Opposition leader Machado has called for elections to take place in 2027, with suggestions ranging from July 24th—marking the independence hero Simón Bolivar's birthday—to a vote within the next year.