Political prisoners are being released from jails in Venezuela and Nicaragua, following the dramatic nighttime raid that captured dictator Nicolás Maduro. Pressures from the Trump administration are shifting the political climate in these nations and giving hope to the millions oppressed by their regimes.
Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez has vowed to continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro in an effort to comply with demands made by the Trump administration.
Among the Venezuelan’s releases are also U.S. citizens, a State Department official said.
The officials did not confirm the number of Americans released or their identities, but said in a statement that the move is “an important step in the right direction by the interim authorities.”
Jorge Rodríguez, the head of Venezuela’s national assembly, said last week that a “significant number” of Venezuelans and foreigners imprisoned in the country would be released as a gesture to “seek peace” following the operation that captured Maduro on Jan. 3.
According to human rights groups, Venezuela has only released 50 people out of a total of more than 800 political prisoners in the country – a figure the country denies, claiming the number of prisoners released is around 100.
Alfredo Romero, director of the Foro Penal, which tracks and advocates for Venezuelan prisoners, said they have received a “flood of messages” from families since the release of the first prisoners last week. Romero says that about 300 families have reached out to his organization, and roughly 100 cases have been confirmed as politically motivated so far.
“They didn’t report it out of fear, and now they’re doing it because, in a way, they feel that there is this possibility that their families will be freed,” Romero said. “They see it as hope, but more importantly, as an opportunity.”
Human rights groups have long claimed that the Venezuelan regime has used these detentions to muzzle its critics, silencing opposition figures, activists, and journalists.
Among those who have been released are: human rights attorney Rocío San Miguel, who has since relocated to Spain; Biagio Pilieri, an opposition leader who was part of Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado’s 2024 presidential campaign; and Enrique Márquez, a former electoral authority and presidential candidate.
Italian businessman Marco Burlò, who was released from prison Monday, told reporters in Rome on Tuesday that he was kept isolated throughout his detention, which he characterized as a “pure and real kidnapping.”
“I can’t say that I was physically abused, but without being able to talk to our children, without the right to defense, without being able to speak to the lawyer, completely isolated, here they thought that I might have died,” he said.
Meanwhile, many families cautiously await the release of loved ones. The son of a jailed opposition figure warned Trump to “not be fooled” by Venezuela’s promises.
Nicaragua
Building on these regional shifts, Nicaragua’s government released dozens of prisoners over the weekend, just days after the U.S. demanded the release of more than 60 political prisoners in the country.
“In Nicaragua, more than 60 people remain unjustly detained or missing, including pastors, religious workers, the sick, and the elderly. Peace is only possible with freedom,” the U.S. embassy in Nicaragua posted on X last Friday.
Multiple reports confirm former mayor Oscar Gadea and evangelical pastor Rudy Palacios, along with four of his relatives, were among those released.
In a statement, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s office announced the release of an unconfirmed number of inmates. Experts say the swift release is the country’s only choice in the wake of Maduro’s capture by U.S. forces and the potential loss of strategic allies and economic dependence.
“We have no doubt that such a decision is the result of political pressure exerted by the U.S. government on the dictatorship and of the political chess moves triggered by events in Venezuela,” Liberales Nicaragua, a coalition of opposition groups, said in a statement.
As CBN News reported, the U.S. helped secure the release of 135 Nicaraguan political prisoners in 2024, including a group of pastors and ministry leaders connected to a U.S.-based ministry.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan says they were released on humanitarian grounds. “No one should be put in jail for peacefully exercising their fundamental rights of free expression, association, and practicing their religion,” he said.
