Disappointment filled the streets of Caracas on Friday as only a small number of inmates were released from Heilcoide and other prisons, despite a pledge from a high-ranking regime official for a “significant” release.
Jorge Rodriguez, Chavista president of the National Assembly and brother of acting president Delcy Rodriguez, had announced the planned releases earlier in the day as a goodwill gesture.
By Friday afternoon, the NGO Foro Penal, which advocates for political prisoners in Venezuela, reported that only nine individuals had been freed, leaving 811 still incarcerated.
Initial reports had hinted at the potential release of Juan Pablo Guanipa, a key opposition figure detained by the regime, but the expected liberation did not materialize.
There was also dismay and heartache among relatives and friends of detainees in Canada, including Luz Urdaneta, a childhood friend of Guanipa based in Calgary.
“It’s incredibly difficult to comprehend that someone as dedicated and hardworking for the country is imprisoned, devoid of contact and rights,” she expressed to CBC News.
Shift in the Trump administration’s stance
Guanipa was arrested last May after actively participating in the election campaign of opposition candidates Edmundo Gonzalez and Maria Corina Machado. He previously served as the governor of Zulia state, which houses Maracaibo, Venezuela’s second-largest city, and as a former vice-president of the National Assembly.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio deemed Guanipa’s arrest “unjustified and arbitrary” and reiterated the U.S.’s commitment to supporting the restoration of democracy in Venezuela and the release of all political prisoners.
The U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro unlocked new hope for the hundreds of political dissidents lost in Venezuela’s notorious prisons. For The National, CBC’s Evan Dyer speaks to Venezuelans now living in Canada who say they want to see the Trump administration do more to free their family and friends.
However, since the operation to capture Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3, the Trump administration appears to have altered its approach towards restoring democracy in Venezuela, showing no urgency in using its purported leverage over the remaining Maduro regime to demand the immediate release of prisoners.
In outlining the U.S. strategy this week, Rubio mentioned that the administration aimed to first stabilize Venezuela before transitioning to a recovery phase at a later undetermined date. Only in this subsequent phase would the administration initiate the reconciliation process within Venezuela to grant amnesty and release opposition figures from prisons.