The proposal was announced weeks after US President Donald Trump publicly addressed the closure of detention centers cited for human rights violations in the Venezuelan capital.
Interim President Delcy Rodríguez announced a general amnesty in Venezuela, just weeks after assuming power following the capture and overthrow of Nicolás Maduro during a US military incursion. The measure aims to cover the entire period of political violence from 1999 to the present, as reported by Rodríguez during the opening of the judicial year at the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), an event broadcast by the state-run Venezuelan Television network.
Rodríguez, who assumed the interim presidency after serving as Maduro's vice president, explained that the law will be presented to the National Assembly (AN), which has a pro-government majority, on an urgent basis. In her words, the objective is to "repair the wounds left by political confrontation, by violence, by extremism, and to redirect coexistence among Venezuelans." The president explicitly asked political prisoners and those who have received release orders not to allow "vengeance, retaliation, or hatred" to prevail.
The proposed law excludes from the amnesty individuals prosecuted or convicted for homicide, drug trafficking, corruption, and serious human rights violations. The text has not yet been released, so the specific criteria for determining who will benefit are unclear.
The announcement comes amid a process of prisoner releases that began on January 8, which has progressed slowly. According to the Foro Penal organization, which specializes in the defense of political prisoners, Venezuela still holds 711 people detained for political reasons, although 302 prisoners have been released since the beginning of the new administration. However, the same NGO reports that more than 11,000 people still face arbitrary restrictions on their freedom.
The president also ordered the closure of the El Helicoide prison, headquarters of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin) in Caracas, considered a torture center by human rights organizations and the opposition. Rodríguez announced that the property will be transformed into a social, sports, cultural, and commercial center for police families and neighboring communities.
Several non-governmental organizations, such as Surgentes, the Committee of Mothers for Truth, Foro Penal, and Provea, have been demanding a general amnesty for those they consider political prisoners for years. The latest formal amnesty proposal was presented by these organizations days before the presidential announcement, encompassing social activists, journalists, military personnel, and activists persecuted or deprived of their freedom in the context of post-election protests.
Previously, in December 2007, then-President Hugo Chávez enacted an amnesty law for individuals involved in the 2002 coup d'état. In 2016, the National Assembly approved a similar law, but it was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) and was never implemented. In 2020, Nicolás Maduro decreed 110 pardons for opposition figures and social actors before that year's legislative elections, although the government has repeatedly denied the existence of political prisoners, alleging crimes linked to terrorism.
Rodríguez's initiative has been met with caution by human rights organizations, which insist on the need for the amnesty to include all of civil society without discrimination and warn that the release of detainees "should not be conceived as an act of clemency, but as the restoration of fundamental rights." Provea emphasized that those imprisoned were incarcerated for exercising rights protected by international instruments and Venezuelan law.
The process of discussing and approving the amnesty law will now depend on the National Assembly, while national and international organizations continue to monitor the conditions and scope of the measure.
(With information from AFP, EFE, Europa Press, and AP)
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