The acting president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, stated this Friday that 626 people have been released from prison in the country, a figure that sharply contrasts with the data reported by human rights organizations, which mention slightly more than 150 actual releases since the government announced the process on January 8.
During a meeting at the Miraflores Palace, Rodríguez stated that the Executive will request the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, led by Volker Türk, to verify the list of those allegedly released.
The announcement comes amidst growing reports of opacity, delays, and misinformation from families who are still waiting for news of their detained loved ones.
"To date, 626 people who were deprived of liberty have already been released," said the president, who firmly rejected the claims made by NGOs and family members, accusing them of "manipulating figures" and deliberately lying about the extent of the process.
The organization Foro Penal claims that only 154 people have been released since the initial announcement, while the Plataforma Unitaria Democrática puts the number as high as 170. Both agree that hundreds of political prisoners remain behind bars, many of them lacking clear information about their legal situation.
The lack of transparency has caused scenes of distress outside detention centers, where dozens of relatives gather daily with lists in hand, asking for names that do not appear in any public records. Although the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, assured that the lists of those released were "available," they have never been officially disseminated.
Adding to the confusion is the report from the Venezuelan Prison Observatory, which warned that some of the released individuals are cases that were not even public, raising suspicions that the government might be inflating the figures with the release of detainees who were not classified as political prisoners.
According to Foro Penal, at least 780 people still need to be freed, while the opposition estimates that the total number of individuals imprisoned for political reasons exceeds 900. For the families, every official figure that does not result in a concrete release becomes a new form of punishment.
Alongside the announcement of the pardons, Delcy Rodríguez proposed the initiation of a "true political dialogue" with opposition sectors and differing actors, an initiative that, she said, will be coordinated by her brother Jorge Rodríguez.
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