Venezuela frees 39 political prisoners after second round of post-Maduro talks

Venezuela has released 39 political dissidents following a second round of negotiations between the interim government and the opposition. The releases took place between Friday and Saturday and were reported from several prisons across the country. The development comes amid a broader post-Maduro transition and continued pressure over remaining detentions.

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Human rights group Justicia, Encuentro y Perdon said the freed detainees included eight women accused of "narco-terrorism" in 2021 and six people accused of working with the United States in a 2020 attempt to overthrow former President Nicolas Maduro. The group said it would remain vigilant and continue to demand full freedom for those still detained. The talks were held with Washington's approval after Maduro was removed in January, according to the supplied report.

The release is significant because it follows months of slow movement on political detentions despite an amnesty law enacted in February under US pressure. Foro Penal, which tracks political detentions, said 344 people were still classified as political prisoners as of September 18, down from 391 on August 10. The government had said in August that 131 people were freed under a separate alternative measures programme, showing that the issue remains active but unresolved.

The negotiations are also tied to wider recovery and institutional questions in Venezuela. The first round of talks in August focused on retrieving Venezuelan funds frozen overseas to help recovery from June's earthquakes, which killed more than 6,300 people, and on reforming the judiciary. That places the prisoner releases within a broader political process involving detainee policy, judicial reform and access to external funds.

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The interim government is led by Delcy Rodriguez, who was Maduro's former vice president, and the opposition remains a central participant in the talks. The releases also come after families of political prisoners staged ongoing protests outside the US embassy in Caracas and the El Rodeo I prison, which rights groups consider a torture centre. Those protests underline the continuing public pressure on the authorities to address detention conditions and the status of those still held.

What remains unclear is how many further releases may follow and whether the negotiations will produce wider concessions on detentions, judicial reform or frozen assets. It is also not clear how quickly the remaining prisoners will be reviewed or whether the amnesty framework will be expanded. The next developments to watch are any new round of talks, further official statements and whether rights groups report additional releases in the coming days.

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