In Venezuela there are at least 711 political prisoners, including 65 foreignersaccording to the NGO Foro Penal, specialized in the defense of political prisoners.
This Wednesday, the Portuguese Government welcomed the release of Portuguese-Venezuelan Jaime Reis Macedo, detained since July 2025 by the authorities of the Bolivarian Republic.
“Portugal remains firm in its diplomatic commitment to the freedom of all political prisoners and human rights”, says a note published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE) on social media, in which it expresses “solidarity” with Jaime Reis and his family.
In Venezuela there are at least 711 political prisoners, including 65 foreignersaccording to the NGO Foro Penal, specialized in the defense of political prisoners.
Under pressure from the United States, after the the Venezuelan government promised on January 8 to release political prisoners, but such releases have occurred only sporadically.
O Venezuelan government announced on January 26 that more than 800 political prisoners had been releasedwithout ever referring to them as such, claiming that the releases began “before December”, although Maduro’s capture took place on January 3.
The NGO Foro Penal disputes this number, reporting only 418 releases since December, 303 of these since January 8th.
O MNE announced on Sunday the release of doctor Pedro Javier Rodriguez, 43 years old, who was detained for opposition activity on social media for three months.
In reaction to Rodriguez’s release, the Regional Government of Madeira expressed a “positive expectation” regarding the initiative of the Interim President of VenezuelaDelcy Rodriguez, who announced her intention to present an amnesty law proposal to cover political prisoners detained since 1999 – a period that covers the Chavista governments.
O The Madeiran government recalled that other Madeirans and Portuguese descendants from this autonomous region are still detainedstating Juan Francisco Rodríguez dos Ramos, Fernando Venâncio Martínez, in addition to the now freed Jaime Reis Macedo, “situations that continue to deserve the highest attention from Madeira”.
A source from the MNE later told the Lusa agency that Carla da Silva had been in prison since May 5, 2020 and that she had been sentenced to 21 years in prison for “conspiracy and association to commit crimes”.
Carla da Silva, now 42 years old, had been convicted by a Caracas court on May 23, 2024, along with 28 other people, military and civilian, for conspiring to overthrow the Government of Venezuela.
Dozens of family members have been camped out in front of prisons across the country since January 8, awaiting their release.
Several NGOs have clarified that political prisoners have been released, but not completely, as they have received alternative measures to prison.
The coordinator of the organization Justice, Encounter and Forgiveness (JEP), Martha Tineo, indicated on January 28 that political prisoners who have been released from prison in recent weeks face restrictions such as the ban on leaving the country and speaking to the press about their cases and the obligation to periodically appear before the courts.
