At least 26 people who were detained in Venezuela, allegedly for political reasons, were released this Thursday (25), reported Alfredo Romero, director-president of the non-governmental human rights organization Foro Penal, on his X account.
Three of those people are teenagers, added Romero, whose team monitors the situation of those arrested in the South American country.
A CNN contacted the Venezuelan Attorney General’s Office to request information about these releases and is awaiting a response.
The release of these people is the largest, at least since August this year, when members of the opposition reported that 13 political activists who were detained had been released. This group included, among others, former deputy Américo De Grazia, leader Pedro Guanipa and former mayor of Maracaibo Rafael Ramírez.
Previously, between the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025, the Venezuelan Prosecutor’s Office reported the release of hundreds of people in the context of the 2024 post-election protests. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the people arrested during these demonstrations had committed acts against the country.
Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro, later asked for some cases to be dismissed due to possible procedural errors, which resulted in around 1,500 releases, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.
Human rights organizations, however, claim that there are hundreds of political prisoners in Venezuela. As of December 20, the Penal Court counted 902 people in this situation, including those who were detained in 2024 and in previous years. For its part, the Venezuelan government denies that there are political prisoners in the country.
