They ask for speed in the release of their family members as part of a release process that President Delcy Rodríguez announced
Family members of political prisoners began this Saturday (14) a hunger strike in Caracas to press for more releases, following the postponement two days ago of the approval of a historic amnesty law.
During the night, 17 political prisoners were released from National Police cells known as Zone 7, in the capital of Venezuela.
Wearing masks, around ten women lay in a line at the entrance to Zone 7, where family members have been camping for more than a month. Next to it, they left a handwritten list of the names of the strikers.
They ask for speed in the release of their family members as part of a release process that interim president Delcy Rodríguez announced on January 8, under strong pressure from Washington.
Many slept at dawn, when they had scheduled the start of the protest. “Sleeping calms hunger”, said one of them, anonymously.
“We demand that everyone’s release be achieved and real. It’s fair, it’s fair. We already have a lot of time for this,” Evelin Quiaro, 46, a migration service employee and mother of a political prisoner, told AFP.
Quiaro ate for the last time after 1am: biscuits with ham. “We are really not prepared, I have never done this in my life”, confessed Quiaro about the strike.
His 30-year-old son has been detained since November 2025. He was accused of terrorism, criminal association and terrorist financing.
“The main and only meaning is that they finally give us concrete answers about the release of all the guys inside, all of them,” Quiaro explained.
Among those released overnight was José Elías Torres, general secretary of the Confederation of Venezuelan Workers (CTV), who had been imprisoned since November without a court order, the Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners reported on the X network.
“Drastic measure”
In power after the fall of Nicolás Maduro on January 3 in an American military intervention, Rodríguez proposed an amnesty law on January 30. The final discussion for its approval was postponed twice.
In theory, it will cover 27 years of Chavismo and this legislation is expected to result in the full freedom of hundreds of detainees.
According to the NGO Foro Penal, Since January 8, 431 political prisoners have been released on parole and 644 remain in prison.
“What we are asking for with this is that everyone be released, as we were promised,” said another striker, Sachare Torrez, 23.
The President of Parliament himself, Jorge Rodríguez, was in the vicinity of these cells in Caracas on February 6th.
“We will repair all the mistakes that have been made”, promised Rodríguez during a meeting with family members of those detained for political reasons in Zone 7, and added that the amnesty law would be approved by the National Assembly on February 10.
However, approval was postponed until next week due to disagreements between deputies about its scope and the role of the Judiciary in its application.
Shortly afterwards, several family members of political prisoners chained themselves in front of the entrance to the Zone 7 prison.
This Saturday, they chose to increase the pressure with the hunger strike.
“With this, it is obvious that we will exhaust ourselves much more (…) but it is already a drastic measure that we consider necessary to put an end to all this”, said Quiaro, lying down with an umbrella to protect herself from the intense heat.
The next legislative session is scheduled for February 19.
*AFP
