At least 80 political prisoners were freed across the country over the weekend following pressure from the United States, a prominent Venezuelan rights organisation, Foro Penal, said.
The group’s director, Alfredo Romero, said his team is still verifying identities and that further releases are likely.
“The number could rise more than 80 as we proceed with verification,” Foro Penal lawyer Gonzalo Himiob wrote on X.
The releases come after the U.S. arrested Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro earlier this month and transferred him to New York to face drug-trafficking charges.
On Friday, interim President Delcy Rodríguez claimed more than 600 prisoners had been freed, a figure Foro Penal says is exaggerated.
Romero announced the latest releases on social media, posting an image of fellow Foro Penal member Kennedy Tejeda, whom he said had been held at Tocorón prison since August 2024.
The group has warned that many of those freed in recent weeks have not had charges dropped, leaving them in legal limbo and barred from speaking publicly.
Before the latest developments, Foro Penal had confirmed the release of 156 political prisoners since 8 January, including opposition figures and at least five Spanish nationals.
Separately, Rodríguez said she would speak with Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, to request UN verification of the release lists.
Human rights organisations have long accused the Venezuelan government of detaining critics to silence dissent, an allegation authorities deny, saying detainees were arrested for criminal offences.
Many were detained following the disputed 2024 presidential election, in which Maduro claimed victory despite opposition challenges and international criticism.
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U.S. passenger air services to Venezuela resumed on Thursday (30 April), as an American Airlines flight landed in Caracas, restoring a commercial link between the two countries after seven years.
A United States Army soldier has been charged with making more than $400,000 by betting on the removal of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, according to the Department of Justice.
Three months following the U.S. raid that captured socialist President Nicolas Maduro on 3 January, the Venezuelan National Assembly approved a new law on Thursday loosening the state’s grip on mining investments to open the sector for private and foreign companies.
In a major policy reversal, the U.S. Treasury has removed Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, from its sanctions list, signalling a sharp shift in Washington’s approach to Caracas.
Kuwait arrested four members of an IRGC-linked group as they tried to enter the country by sea, the Gulf state's KUNA news agency reported on Tuesday. Meanwhile, a senior IRGC officer said Iran had expanded its definition of the Strait of Hormuz to include a far wider area.
Australia confirmed it will repatriate citizens from the MV Hondius cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak, with quarantine on arrival. Spain, France are evacuating nationals as three deaths are confirmed. In the U.S., two passengers have been isolated after testing positive for the virus.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed Iran’s response to a U.S. peace proposal as a “stupid proposal,” saying Tehran failed to commit to abandoning its pursuit of a nuclear weapon, while warning the fragile ceasefire was on “massive life support”.
Metropolitan Shio of Senaki and Chkhorotsku has been elected the 142nd head of the Georgian Orthodox Church at a meeting of clergy in Tbilisi following the death of longtime Patriarch Ilia II.
Afghanistan has signed a five-year gold mining contract with Afghan and Azerbaijani companies in a deal worth more than $20m, the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum has said.
Senior officials from China and Uzbekistan met in Beijing this week for talks on trade, infrastructure and bilateral cooperation, underscoring a relationship that has continued to deepen steadily in recent years.
Senior economic officials from China and the U.S. are holding two days of trade talks in Seoul this week ahead of a summit in Beijing, where Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are set to meet face to face for the first time this year.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer laid down the gauntlet to challengers on Tuesday (12 May), as he defied calls to resign at a meeting of Cabinet, telling ministers that there had been no official move to trigger a leadership contest.
Malaysia's Maritime Enforcement Agency has launched a search and rescue operation for 14 people missing at sea after a wooden boat, strongly believed to be illegally transporting undocumented Indonesian migrants, capsized and sank off the country's western coast on Monday morning.
Start your day informed with the AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top stories for the 12th of May, covering the latest developments you need to know.
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