Families escalate pressure as Venezuela’s amnesty rollout remains opaque

Families and lawyers in Caracas and other cities have staged sustained protests outside government offices and detention centers as the Venezuelan state rolls out a promised amnesty that relatives say has been slow, opaque and inconsistent. Relatives, rights groups and U.N. monitors say the government’s public tallies of released detainees conflict sharply with independent verifications, leaving many families without confirmation that loved ones have been freed.

The government has announced multiple rounds of releases. Penitentiary authorities cited 99 people freed on Dec. 25 and later weekday statements referred to 116 and 166 released. Jorge Rodríguez, head of the National Assembly, told a news briefing that “more than 400” people had been freed. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said the release process “has not yet concluded” and declared the country was entering a “new political moment.”

Independent monitors dispute those totals. Foro Penal, the best-known Venezuelan organization that tracks political detentions, entered the amnesty with a baseline of 806 people it considered political prisoners. Its verified counts after government announcements have been far smaller: 61 verified releases after the Dec. 25 announcement, 56 as of one Monday evening, and 79 by a subsequent Wednesday. Another local NGO, Forropan, said the number of actual releases is “far lower” than government claims and that the penitentiary authority’s announcement of mass releases “must be refuted immediately.”

The discrepancy is more than arithmetic. Rights groups and U.N. monitors have criticized the absence of publicly released lists of names, dates and detention facilities. Families say they receive scant information, with some reporting restricted contact, long incommunicado periods and allegations of abuse in custody. Relatives have camped outside prisons, lighting candles, hanging signs and pressing for recent photos or video calls to prove detainees are alive.

Specific cases underscore the distrust. A lawyer identified in reporting as Rocha, who represented opposition leader María Corina Machado and was detained after the 2024 elections, remains at El Helicoide prison, a facility long accused by advocates of abusive practices. Cipriani, identified as Rocha’s wife, said authorities have allowed calls every two or three days in recent months and described her husband as “serene,” “calm and strong.” Families also cite reports of denial of medical care, solitary confinement and lack of access to counsel.

The amnesty’s political and economic context heightens stakes. Some releases have been presented by officials as conciliatory gestures tied to a thaw with Washington; U.S. and Spanish governments have also confirmed the release of some of their citizens. Observers say an opaque and contested amnesty undermines the credibility of any political opening and complicates potential negotiation over sanctions, investment and energy-sector engagement. For markets and foreign investors, verifiable steps on human rights are often a precondition for broader normalization.

Longer term, the episode fits a pattern of detention and occasional negotiated releases that have accompanied Venezuela’s political crises since 2014. For families the immediate demand is simple and urgent: clear, verifiable information and the speedy release of those they say remain unjustly detained. Rights groups warn that without transparency and independent verification, the announced amnesty risks deepening mistrust rather than fostering the political reconciliation officials invoke.