Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodriguez announced on Friday, January 30, a push for mass amnesty in the country, in her latest major reform since the US toppling of Nicolas Maduro just weeks ago. Rodriguez, in a speech at the Venezuelan Supreme Court attended by top government officials, said she will propose a “general amnesty law covering the entire period of political violence from 1999 to the present.”
Leftist revolutionary Hugo Chavez assumed the presidency in 1999, and was succeeded upon his death in 2013 by Maduro.
“This law will serve to heal the wounds left by political confrontation, fueled by violence and extremism. It will allow us to put justice back on track in our country,” Rodriguez said, also announcing a “major national consultation for a new judicial system.”
She also announced plans to close the notorious El Helicoide prison in Caracas, where rights groups say political prisoners were tortured by Maduro’s intelligence services. The massive facility, originally built as a shopping mall, will be turned into a “sports, cultural and commercial center for police families and neighboring communities,” Rodriguez said.
Formerly Maduro’s vice president, Rodriguez, 56, has quickly moved in less than four weeks in power to overhaul Venezuelan society in ways sought by the United States, earning high praise from US President Donald Trump.
Along with her brother, National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez, she has passed a new law opening up the country’s critical oil sector to private investments – a key demand of Trump.
The move was almost immediately followed by a rollback on US sanctions targeting Venezuela’s oil industry. The government also agreed on January 8, five days after Maduro was seized in a deadly US military operation, to free inmates considered political prisoners by rights groups.
While the government claims more than 800 people have been freed since last year, NGOs have counted less than 400 since December – and under 300 in total since the January 8 announcement, according to the Foro Penal rights group.
Opposition leader and Nobel peace laureate Maria Corina Machado said on January 30 that Rodriguez’s amnesty proposal came only after she was pushed by Washington.
“This is not a voluntary gesture by the regime, but a response to pressure from the United States government. And I hope that the prisoners will soon be able to be with their families,” she posted on social media.
All US prisoners released
Families of dozens of detainees have anxiously waited for three weeks outside prisons for their release. US authorities on Friday announced that all Americans known to be held prisoner in Venezuela had been released.
“We are pleased to confirm the release by the interim authorities of all known US citizens held in Venezuela,” the embassy in Caracas posted on social media. For years, Venezuela has routinely arrested foreigners and domestic opposition actors on a range of charges, from spying to plotting attacks.
Foreign governments have long alleged the charges were trumped-up, and the arrests amounted to little more than hostage-taking. In a sign of Trump’s satisfaction with the new Venezuelan authorities, his administration lifted a ban on US flights to the South American country.
And after years of the US embassy being shuttered, Washington is also preparing to re-establish its diplomatic presence in Caracas. Seasoned diplomat Laura Dogu was recently named US chargé d’affaires for Venezuela – the highest level representative below an ambassador.
