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Rubio urges Venezuela to free 322 remaining political prisoners
The US has urged Venezuela’s interim government to release all remaining political prisoners, making their detention a central issue in talks about political reforms and future elections. More than 1,000 people have been freed since US forces captured Nicolás Maduro in January, but rights group Foro Penal says 322 remain in detention.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised the prisoners’ release with Foreign Minister Oliver Blanco on Monday, alongside reforms intended to support free and credible elections. Many detainees were arrested after the disputed 2024 election, which independent tallies and observers questioned. Interim President Delcy RodrĂguez has said elections will take place under a renewed electoral authority but gave no date; opposition leader MarĂa Corina Machado has called for a vote next year.
In short
- The US is pressing Venezuela to free 322 remaining political prisoners.
- More than 1,000 have been released since Maduro’s capture.
- The timing and conditions for new elections remain unclear.
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The case for
Releasing the remaining detainees would address serious concerns about arrests linked to the disputed 2024 election and could help restore trust in Venezuela’s political process. Making their freedom part of talks on reforms and elections may also encourage conditions in which opposition groups can compete and voters can have confidence in the result.
The case against
Venezuela’s interim government could argue that detention decisions should follow domestic legal procedures and that outside pressure risks undermining its sovereignty. It may also contend that releases should be assessed case by case, with electoral reforms and a timetable for voting negotiated separately rather than made conditional on a single demand.
Explained simply
Venezuela has been governed for years by Nicolás Maduro, whose government faced domestic and international criticism over political freedoms and elections. After the disputed 2024 presidential vote, authorities detained people accused of opposing the government; independent tallies and observers questioned the result.
The United States captured Maduro in January, and Delcy RodrĂguez became interim president. Marco Rubio is the US secretary of state, while MarĂa Corina Machado is a leading opposition figure; Foro Penal is a Venezuelan rights group that tracks political detentions.
The prisoner issue is tied to wider discussions about political reforms and future elections. The timing and conditions of a vote matter to Venezuelans and to other countries assessing whether it can be free and credible.
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Originally published by BBC World as “US urges Venezuela to release remaining political prisoners”.