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The Republican congresswoman María Elvira Salazar issued a stern warning on Wednesday to the power currently controlling Venezuela following the capture of Nicolás Maduro and the provisional rise of Delcy Rodríguez as interim president.
Through a message posted on X, the legislator denounced decades of political persecution, torture, and enforced disappearances, and demanded the immediate release of all political prisoners in the country.
"The Venezuelan regime has been imprisoning, torturing, and disappearing dissidents for decades. From Chávez to Maduro, political prisoners have been used as weapons of fear to silence an entire nation," wrote Salazar.
In his message, he directly urged Delcy Rodríguez to release "all political prisoners immediately" and warned about the possible consequences of not doing so.
"The United States will not stand by while arbitrary detentions and abuses against innocent people continue. Free each and every one of them. Now," he concluded.
Salazar's statement adds to a growing international and regional pressure demanding the dismantling of the repressive apparatus of chavismo and the release of hundreds of politically detained individuals.
From the Venezuelan opposition, leader María Corina Machado, through the human rights arm of her party Vente Venezuela (Vente DDHH), issued a statement outlining conditions for a genuine democratic transition following Maduro's capture and the beginning of Delcy Rodríguez's interim presidency.
The time has come to free political prisoners, restore the truth, and uphold justice over impunity," states the statement, which demanded the dismantling of the repressive apparatus.
In the text, he demanded the release of political prisoners, the restoration of the truth, and the guarantee of justice in the face of what he described as more than two decades of crimes against humanity, as well as the closure of torture centers and compensation for the victims.
In the same vein, the elected president of Venezuela, Edmundo González, who demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all those detained for political reasons, both civilians and military.
González emphasized that true normalization will only be possible when the will of the people expressed on July 28, 2024, and the fundamental rights of Venezuelans are respected unambiguously, and he warned that the removal from power of the usurper does not replace the pending tasks of justice and reparations.
From Washington, President Donald Trump raised the tone of his warnings towards the new provisional power in Caracas and expressed openness to a change in the system.
In a phone interview with The Atlantic, Trump stated that Delcy Rodríguez "will pay a very high price" if she does not cooperate with the United States, a cost that, he said, could be "greater than that of Maduro."
He also publicly denounced the existence of a torture center in Caracas and stated that it would be closed.
Although he did not mention the place by name, Trump's statements were interpreted as a direct reference to El Helicoide, an iconic building that has become the headquarters of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN) and a symbol of the repressive apparatus of chavismo.
"Maduro is a violent man, he killed millions of people and they had a torture center in downtown Caracas that will be shut down," he stated.
The mention reinvigorates international alarm regarding the situation of political prisoners and lends greater weight to the demands of figures like María Elvira Salazar, who insist that the release of detainees is an essential step for any genuine democratic transition in Venezuela.
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