Venezuela’s acting president is proposing legislation that could lead to the release of hundreds of political prisoners

Acting President of Venezuela Delcy Rodríguez on Friday he announced an amnesty bill that could lead to the release of hundreds of prisonersincluding opposition leaders, journalists and human rights activists imprisoned for political reasons.

This move has long been sought by the opposition backed by the United States. It is the latest concession that Rodríguez has made since he took the reins of the country on January 3 after the President of the time was mistreated. Nicolas Maduro in the American army to attack in the capital of Venezuela, Caracas.

Rodríguez told a gathering of judges, magistrates, ministers, military and other government leaders that the ruling party-controlled National Assembly will take up the bill immediately.

“May this law help heal the wounds caused by political conflict fueled by violence and extremism,” he added in a televised ceremony. “May it work to redirect justice in our country, and may it work to redirect the coexistence between the Venezuelan people.”

This comes as the American Embassy in Venezuela also announced on Friday that all American citizens arrested in Venezuela have been released.

“We are pleased to confirm the release by interim authorities of all known US citizens detained in Venezuela,” the ambassador said in a social media post. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also posted the news on his X account.

It was not yet clear how many people were released. CBS News reached out to the State Department.

Earlier this month, a hostage lawyer a person familiar with the situation told CBS News that at least four Americans are still being held in Venezuela.

In July, 10 Americans they were released from Venezuela as part of a prisoner exchange involving the US and El Salvador. The Americans were released in exchange for El Salvador returning 252 Venezuelans deported from the US to a notorious terrorist center in El Salvador, or CECOT.

The US does not actually operate an embassy in Venezuela, after closing its embassy in Caracas in 2019. in the midst of mass protests and political unrest. Since then, it has operated its consular services in Bogota, Colombia. In waking up with Maduro’s arrest in the US in early January, the Trump administration this week notified Congress that it would begin steps to finally reopen the embassy in Venezuela.

Laura Dogu, the US ambassador to Venezuela, went to Caracas on Saturday to meet with Venezuelan officials, Yvan Gil, the Venezuelan foreign minister, wrote on social media. Gil said their meeting “aims to prepare a guide to work on matters of mutual interest, and to deal with and resolve existing disagreements through diplomatic negotiations and on the basis of mutual respect and International Law.”

Rodríguez, on the other hand announced the closure of Helicoide, a prison in Caracas where torture and other abuses of human rights have been repeatedly documented by private organizations. This center, he said, will be transformed into a sports, social and cultural center for the police and the surrounding areas.

Rodríguez made his announcement in front of some of the officials that former prisoners and human rights defenders are accused of ordering the abuses carried out in Helicoide and other places of detention.

Relatives of other prisoners broadcast Rodríguez’s speech live on the phone as they gathered outside Helicoide. Others cried. Many chanted “Freedom! Freedom!”

“God is good. God has heard us,” said the prisoner’s aunt, Johana Chirinos, crying.

The leader of the opposition and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado in a statement it said the announced actions were not taken “voluntarily, but rather as a result of pressure from the US government.” He also noted that people have been arrested for their political activities from anywhere between a month and 23 years.

“The regime’s repressive organization is brutal and has turned a lot of criminals against the regime, and that’s all that’s left,” said Machado. “When oppression ends and fear ends, there will be an end to violence.”

The Venezuela-based prisoner rights group Foro Penal estimates that 711 people are in prison across the South American country for their political activities. Of these, 183 have been sentenced.

Among the prominent members of the political opposition arrested after the 2024 presidential election and still in prison are Machado’s former lawyer Freddy Superlano, Machado’s lawyer Perkins Rocha, and Juan Pablo Guanipa, a former governor and one of Machado’s closest friends.

The government did not release the text of the bill on Friday, leaving it unclear what criteria will be used to determine who is eligible for amnesty.

Rodríguez said the “general amnesty law” would cover “the entire period of political violence from 1999 to the present.” He also explained that people convicted of murder, drug trafficking, corruption or violating human rights will not be eligible for release.

Rodríguez’s government earlier this month announced plans to release a large number of prisoners as an act of mercy, but relatives of those detained have criticized the slow pace of the release.

“A general amnesty is acceptable as long as its characteristics and conditions include all communities, without discrimination, not to be a veil of impunity, and contribute to the dismantling of the repressive weapons of political persecution,” said Alfredo Romero, president of Foro Penal, on social media.

The organization has counted 302 releases since the January 8 announcement.

The human rights organization Provea in a statement called out the lack of transparency and the “speed” of the prisoners’ release. It also emphasized that although the release of those still in prison is “urgent, the announcement of amnesty should not be considered as a pardon or an act of mercy on the part of the State.”

“We remember that these people were unjustly arrested for using the rights protected by international human rights instruments, the National Constitution and the laws of Venezuela,” said the organization.

Outside of another detention center in Caracas, Edward Ocariz, who was imprisoned for more than five months after the 2024 election, joined relatives of prisoners in demanding the immediate release of their loved ones.

“We, Venezuelans, have endured a lot, everything wrong, insensitivity and trampling on our dignity. No one deserves this,” said Ocariz. “And today, the guilty continue to rule Venezuela.”