The president in charge of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, proposed this Friday a general amnesty law to release political prisoners who have been detained from 1999 to the present. Precisely,
“I want to announce that we have decided promote a general amnesty law that covers the entire political period of political violence in 1999 to the present,” said Rodríguez at the ceremony to mark the beginning of the judicial year, at the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), broadcast by the state channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV).
The Chavista leader commissioned the Judicial Revolution Commission and the Program for Coexistence and Peace to present the law to the National Assembly (AN, Parliament) in the “next few hours.” has also requested “maximum collaboration” to members of the Government that represents.
“Let it be a law that serves that has left the political confrontation, from violence, from extremism, that serves to redirect justice in our country and that serves to redirect coexistence among Venezuelans,” added the president in charge of the Transition.
Likewise, the Chavista leader has asked the country’s political prisoners, including those who have already received release measures, that “revenge, revenge or hatred not be imposed.” This bill excludes those convicted of crimes of homicide, drug trafficking and human rights violations.
Several NGOs have insisted for years on a general amnesty for all political prisoners, presenting, at the same time, several legislative proposals. The last one was proposed last Tuesday by the Surgentes organization and the Mothers for Truth Committee.
The text of the NGO and the Committee included 12 articles and proposed amnesty for “all those people who have been journalists, members of victims’ committees, soldiers and people persecuted or deprived of their liberty in the context of post-electoral mobilizations.”
More than 700 prisoners, according to NGO
At the beginning of this January, a parliamentary faction in Venezuela also proposed an amnesty law to, argued, bring “peace” to the relatives of people “who are unjustly detained.”
Currently, according to the NGO Foro Penal, there are 711 political prisoners. However, the Venezuelan Government denied that there were people detained in the country for these reasons and pointed out that the prisoners had committed crimes, for the most part, related to terrorism.
The last time an amnesty law was enacted in Venezuela was in December 2007, when the late president He forgave people involved in the coup against him in 2002.
Also, in 2016, Parliament, by then controlled by the opposition, approved an amnesty law, declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), which is related to Chavismo, and It could never be applied.
In August 2020, the Venezuelan president, Nicolas Madurogranted, by decree, 110 measures of pardons to opponents, union members and social actors accused of various crimes, in view of legislative elections that were held in December of that year, an event that
Family members celebrate the proposal
Relatives of political prisoners in Venezuela told EFE this Friday that they feel “hopeful” after the amnesty law proposal presented by the acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, which must be presented in the “next few hours” before the National Assembly (AN, Parliament).
“Firstly God, firstly God, and I know that many people, both in the National Assembly and outside, want a change, a radical change for both society and the political structure,” Sandra Rosales, who has her husband Dionis Quintero detained in the Zone 7 police cell of the Bolivarian National Police (PNB), in the east of Caracas, told EFE.
Rosales indicated that her husband is a police officer and has been detained for two months, but she welcomed Rodríguez’s decision on this law because she believes that there are many prisoners “unfairly.”
“This allows a step forward for all political prisoners,” added Rosales after remembering that relatives have gone through the “pain” of not being able to see their loved ones because, he said, they are denied visits.
For her part, Mariglys Guzmán, who was also outside the police cell, said she hoped everyone “can enjoy the benefits that are being given.”
“We will continue in the fight until we can embrace our own, who have also been victims of this terror,” added Guzmán, who has had his brother Luis Daniel detained since March 29, 2023, accused of a corruption plot related to the state oil company PDVSA.
According to him, his brother never worked with the oil company but was linked to the case after working with a businessman who was related to the company.
“My brother is detained for political whim,” he said.
This Thursday, Rodríguez proposed an amnesty law to release political prisoners who have been detained from 1999 to the present, a period that covers the Chavismo governments.
The Chavista leader tasked the Judicial Revolution Commission and the Program for Coexistence and Peace to present the law to the National Assembly in the “next few hours,” as well as “maximum collaboration” to the legislative body for its approval.
“Let it be a law that serves to repair the wounds left by political confrontation, from violence, from extremism, that serves to redirect justice in our country and that serves to redirect coexistence among Venezuelans,” added the president who was sworn in after the capture of President Nicolás Maduro by the United States.
— Breaking news on expansion —
