'Significant' prisoner release set to take place in Venezuela
The president of the country's parliament says that Venezuelan and foreign prisoners will be released in the coming hours.
18 hours agoThu 8 Jan 2026 at 8:10pm
Jorge Rodríguez announced the prisoner release plan on Thursday in Venezuela's capital, Caracas. (Reuters: Gaby Oraa)
In short:
Prisoners are set to be released from jail in Venezuela in the coming hours, the president of the country's parliament says.
Jorge Rodríguez says it is an act "intended to seek peace", but did not say how many would be freed.
It is the first sign of possible concession from Venezuelan authorities since the US seized ousted president Nicolás Maduro.
A significant number of Venezuelan and foreign prisoners are set to be released in the coming hours, the president of the country's parliament says.
The liberations, a repeated demand of the country's opposition, are a gesture of peace, Jorge Rodríguez said, adding the action was unilateral and not agreed with any other party.
"The Bolivarian government, together with state institutions, has decided to release a significant number of Venezuelan and foreign individuals, and these release processes are taking place as of this very moment," Mr Rodríguez said.
The brother of acting president Delcy Rodríguez did not specify who or how many people they would be releasing.
"Consider this gesture by the Bolivarian government, which is broadly intended to seek peace," Mr Rodríguez said in the announcement that was broadcast on TV.
Despite mass detentions following the tumultuous 2024 election, Venezuela's government maintains it does not keep political prisoners.
The US government and the country's opposition have demanded the release of opposition figures and critics.
The non-governmental monitor Foro Penal says there are 806 political prisoners held in Venezuela, including 175 military personnel.
It was the first sign of possible concessions by Venezuela's interim government since President Donald Trump's administration said it was "in charge" in Venezuela, after US forces seized Nicolás Maduro and his wife and took them to New York to face trial.
Mr Trump said on Tuesday that Venezuelan authorities were "closing up" a "torture chamber in the middle of Caracas," without elaborating.
Spain's Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said that he expected Spanish citizens to be among those freed.
He said if confirmed, it would be a "very positive step".
Reuters/AP/AFP