The Government of the president in charge of Venezuela, , authorized this Thursday the , both Venezuelans and foreigners, five days after the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in a United States military operation.
The announcement was made by the president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Jorge Rodríguez (who is also the brother of the new president), and described it as a measure aimed at “collaborating in the effort” of the “national union” in the country. Although he did not specify how many or exactly who would be released. “The Bolivarian Government has decided to release a significant number of Venezuelans and foreigners, and these release processes are occurring from this very moment,” Rodríguez commented in a video message broadcast by the public channel TeleSur.
The NGO Foro Penal counted that there was until January 5, 2026; among them, foreigners or with dual nationality, like the five Spaniards who are in the group of those released last night.
Following the military operation in which US forces captured the president of Venezuela, and took him to New York to be tried for alleged drug trafficking – charges that Maduro rejects -, US officials have asked the government in charge, among other things, to release the political prisoners, according to a source close to a government report cited by the . It was a key demand of the opponents of Chavismo, which no one was talking about but which was, therefore, being treated in a hidden way.
The first confirmed releaseees in Venezuela are five Spanish citizens, at least three of whom had been detained after the post-election crisis of 2024. The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, confirmed on his X account that the five were already flying back to Spain.
“The 5 compatriots released today in Venezuela are now flying to Spain. They will soon be home with their loved ones. I have spoken with them to convey my joy for their release,” said the chancellor.
The director of Foro Penal, Alfredo Romero, then explained that the Venezuelan opponent Juan Pablo Guanipa would also appear on the list of releases, but he clarified that Foro Penal will soon publish a complete official list with all those released. Meanwhile, on Thursday night former opposition deputies Enrique Márquez and Biagio Pilieri were released from prison and reunited with their families.
These are very prominent faces of the opposition to the ruling party, both in times of and in the long decade that Nicolás Maduro was in power.
These are their profiles:
Enrique Marquez
- Former deputy Enrique Márquez (Maracaibo, May 19, 1963) was arrested in January 2025, accused by the Minister of Interior Relations, Justice and Peace of Venezuela, Diosdado Cabello (one of the key men of Chavismo), of being involved in an attempted coup d’état in the country.
- Previously, Márquez was vice president of the National Electoral Council (CNE) between 2021 and 2023, representing the opposition
- He was a candidate for the 2024 Venezuelan presidential elections, for the Centrados party. He was, along with (elected president of the country since last year, according to the dissident), the only candidate to refuse to sign an agreement with the Government of Nicolás Maduro.
- On January 7, 2025, days before the presidential inauguration, he was detained by security forces.
- He is an electrical engineer by training but already entered political life at university.
Biagio Pilieri
- National coordinator of the Convergencia Venezuela party, Biagio Pilieri (Chivacoa, September 8, 1965) was arrested in August 2024, in the middle of a wave of arrests of opponents, after the presidential elections in which both the Maduro Government and the opposition declared themselves winners.
- He is a journalist and businessman of Italian origin, he was mayor of the Bruzual Municipality from 2000 to 2004 and was elected in 2010 during the parliamentary elections of Venezuela by the National Assembly to be the representative of the State of Yaracuy. He participated in the presidential campaign of Rafael Caldera, who was elected from 1994 to 1999, before the Chávez era.
- He was mayor of Chivacoa when he was arrested on February 4, 2009, accused of embezzlement of public funds, along with three other people. Already in August 2024, Biagio Pilieri, being a member of the Unitary Platform and national coordinator of Convergencia, was kidnapped along with his son Jesús and two other people who accompanied him, apparently by state officials, and taken to the most feared prison in the country. He had been participating in protests over the elections a month earlier.
- “My absolute repudiation of the kidnapping of Biagio Pilieri and his son, Jesús,” wrote the opposition leader, this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, at the time. “Biagio is a great friend and ally, a man who, when he gives his word, commits himself. He knew the risk he was taking and still accompanied the Venezuelans in Caracas today as a testimony of responsibility and dedication to this cause,” he added.
Juan Pablo Guanipa
- The lawyer and former Venezuelan deputy Juan Pablo Guanipa (Maracaibo, December 20, 1964), one of the closest collaborators of the opposition leader Machado, was arrested in May 2025, as Cabello also reported.
- Without showing evidence, the minister said that Guanipa’s arrest occurred as part of actions to prevent an alleged plan against the regional and legislative elections scheduled for Sunday. Guanipa and Machado had called not to participate in those elections, considering the call as a trap.
- Guanipa was a deputy in the National Assembly of Venezuela between 2016 and 2021. He was first vice president of said body between 2020 and 2021. This lawyer and politician has been elected governor of the state of Zulia and leader of the opposition party Primero Justicia.
- Following the 2024 presidential election, he is widely regarded as the leader of Primero Justicia. On May 23, 2025, two days before regional elections in the country, he was arrested by security forces. His whereabouts throughout this time are unknown.
- Although Foro Penal indicated that Guanipa would be among those released, his release has not yet been formally confirmed.
