The interim president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, promised this Wednesday, 14, to continue releasing prisoners detained during the regime of dictator Nicolás Maduro, in her first press conference since Maduro was deposed by the United States earlier this month.
In a speech to journalists on the red carpet of the presidential palace, Rodríguez said the prisoner release process had begun under the Maduro government and “has not yet been completed.”
“This process remains open,” he said, adding that the releases send a message that Venezuela is beginning “a new political moment that allows for the understanding of divergence and political and ideological diversity.”
That comment apparently alluded to detainees being held on charges that rights groups consider politically motivated. Venezuela’s main prisoners’ rights organization, Foro Penal, has verified the release of at least 68 prisoners since the Rodríguez government promised to release a “significant number” of inmates.
The measure was seen as an attempt to meet Washington’s demands.
President Donald Trump endorsed Rodríguez to help ensure U.S. control over Venezuela’s oil sales. He threatened the Venezuelan woman with a “situation probably worse than that of Maduro”, who faces federal drug trafficking charges in a Brooklyn prison.
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In supporting Rodríguez, Trump sidelined María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for her campaign to restore democracy to the country. Machado has a scheduled meeting with Trump at the White House this Thursday.
*Fonte: Associated Press.
