The National Assembly (AN, Parliament) of Venezuela postponed this morning until next week the second and final debate necessary to approve, while the opposition took to the streets of the country to demand the release of these detainees.
The Parliament – controlled by Chavismo – approved up to the sixth article of the entitled Amnesty Law for Democratic Coexistence, as there were differences over the seventh point that requires those prosecuted and convicted to appear before Justice.
Article seven of this project states that the amnesty is for any person who is or may be “prosecuted or convicted for their alleged or proven participation in crimes or misdemeanors committed”, as long as “it is within the law or becomes within the law after the entry into force” of the regulations.
Opposition deputy Luis Florido, from the Libertad faction, indicated that the article had to be modified because, in his opinion, the request for presentation to Justice already implies that the people who are prosecuted are accused of being guilty. This wording, he understands, could exclude all opposition leaders in exile, including (who was the dissident candidate in the 2024 elections and is today exiled in Spain) and (Nobel Peace Prize winner for his fight for democracy in the country and who secretly left the country to collect his prize).
The non-governmental organization Foro Penal states that “being a right or being right” means that the person would have to appear before Venezuelan courts or authorities, which could put them at risk of being immediately detained. “If the law is approved as it is, they are very clear, the person will come to Venezuela and probably at the same airport he will be detained, he will be deprived of his freedom, without guarantees that a decree will later be issued in his favor,” its president, Gonzalo Himiob, considered in the meeting.
There is no unit
Chavismo, on the other hand, argued that the Constitution establishes that people must be present in a criminal process. Finally, the debate was postponed, at the request of the ruling party and the opposition, to a next session that is estimated to be next Thursday, after the Carnival holiday.
But there are fissures between themselves. The arrest at the hands of the United States on January 3 made those who remained in Caracas close ranks with the new president, out of pure survival, so that the same thing does not happen to them. The president has undertaken a reform of the cabinet, seeking to stay with those closest to her, but the Assembly is something else and the deputies are beginning to divide, between those who accept the gesture of opening and those who believe it excessive; between those who believe that those who have blood crimes should also leave and those who say no.
Among what was approved during the session, the future law grants “a general and full amnesty for crimes or misdemeanors committed and occurred within the framework of the facts and the temporal scope” established in the text, in order to “promote social peace and democratic coexistence.”
The protest returns
On the occasion of National Youth Day, the Venezuelan Student Movement marched this Thursday in several cities in the country to demand the release of all political prisoners, which represented one of the opposition mobilizations with the largest attendance in just over a year.
Hundreds of people gathered at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV), the main university in the country, where student leaders and citizens mobilized inside and outside the campus in Caracas.
“Not one, not two, let it be all,” chanted the protesters, in reference to the process of releasing political prisoners that began on January 8, by which the NGO Foro Penal has verified 431 releases until February 10, while it estimates that there are still more than 600 imprisoned.
Miguel Ángel Suárez, president of the Federation of University Centers of the UCV, assured that they will continue to press “until all civil and political rights are restored,” while calling for “the persecution to cease” and to achieve “guarantees” that lead the country to a “democratic transition.”
In Maracaibo, capital of the state of Zulia (west), students from the University of Zulia (LUZ) also marched and demanded to be included in the debate for the amnesty.
Yeissel Pérez, president of the FCU of LUZ, questioned that the youth leadership was not called for the public consultation of the bill, in which academics, NGOs and relatives of political prisoners participated.
Relatives of political prisoners hold signs during a vigil in front of Zone 7 this Thursday, in Caracas (Venezuela).
The anguish of families
Relatives of the political prisoners detained in the police command of the Bolivarian National Police (PNB), known as Zone 7 in the east of Caracas, held a new protest at the end of the day outside that headquarters to demand that their relatives be released, as well as to reject the postponement of the debate in Parliament.
Yessy Orozco, daughter of former deputy Fernando Orozco detained in that cell, told EFE that they will chain themselves outside the PNB until they release all the political prisoners there.
“Here we are going to remain chained, no one enters, no one leaves, unless they release our political prisoners, until the last of our political prisoners in this penitentiary is released,” he added.
Orozco recalled that last Friday the president of Parliament, the Chavista Jorge Rodríguez, said that the bill would be approved this week after which all political prisoners would then be released.
Regarding this, Petra Vera, a relative of another detainee in Zone 7, demanded that Rodríguez “keep his promise.” “We are protesting the mockery to which all the relatives of the political prisoners in this penitentiary have been subjected, we consider it a mockery,” he told the EFE Agency.
Unusual visit and undated promise
The president in charge of Venezuela, Rodríguez, assured in an interview with the US network tonight that the Caribbean country will have “free and fair elections”, but did not offer any type of deadline for holding presidential elections. “Absolutely, yes,” Rodríguez responded when asked about the possibility of holding elections after Washington’s capture and detention of Maduro a month and a half ago.
“Elections are contemplated in the Constitution. And holding free and fair elections in Venezuela also means having a free country where justice can be exercised,” said Rodríguez, who added that the country should also be “free of sanctions” and “harassment by the international press” to organize that vote.
The interview with NBC is the first that the president grants to an American media after Maduro’s arrest.
The president in charge also assured that “the calendar of the elections will be marked and decided by the political dialogue in this country,” but did not comment when asked if the presidential elections could be held in three years, as the US Secretary of Energy has suggested during his visit to Venezuela this week.
After the overthrow of Maduro, the Government of the American president, has handed over command of the transition to the former Chavista vice president and assured that he is supervising his Executive. However, when asked about Washington’s influence on the policy that is being dictated from Caracas, Rodríguez spoke of the importance of “developing joint work” and said that she appreciates the “level of cooperation” of the White House.
The president also assured that “without a doubt” Maduro remains “the legitimate president of Venezuela” and defended that both he and his wife, Cilia Flores, are innocent of the charges of conspiracy and narcoterrorism of which the US authorities accuse them.
“Maduro remains the legitimate president of Venezuela”
Rodríguez mentioned UN reports that indicate that Venezuela “is not relevant” in drug trafficking to the US, contrary to what the Trump Administration has claimed, which accused Maduro of leading the .
In turn, the president considered that this discrepancy between Caracas and Washington due to the role that Maduro and Flores could have played in alleged drug trafficking networks “is not at all difficult” thanks to “the diplomacy, political and energy dialogue” that is taking place between both countries in recent weeks.
After Maduro’s capture, both parties agreed that the US would market some 50 million barrels of crude oil from the Caribbean country and send the proceeds to the Venezuelan government.
Chris Wright himself assured today that the turnover from these crude oil sales already exceeds 1 billion dollars, and that the figure could soon quintuple.
