Venezuelans took to the streets of Caracas this Tuesday to demand the release of all political prisoners and the immediate approval of a general amnesty law. The mobilization, led by university students, family activists of detainees, and some recently released opposition leaders, gathered at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) and marked the return of citizen protest one month after Nicolás Maduro's capture by U.S. forces.
The opposition leader María Corina Machado celebrated the demonstration in a message posted on X: “Today, in the streets of Caracas. A country determined to be free. Thirty days ago, this was unimaginable… ¡Freedom for all political prisoners!”.
The journalist Gabriel Bastidas reported that “hundreds of people are marching from the Rectorate Square of UCV demanding the release of all political prisoners.” In videos shared on social media, young people can be seen with Venezuelan flags and banners calling for total freedom for prisoners.
The movement Vente Venezuela shared images from the event and stated that “students alongside Venezuela and civil society are raising their voices to demand what is right: freedom for political prisoners and an amnesty law now.” In another video, the organization featured youth leader José Rafael Castellanos, who was recently released from prison, calling from UCV for the approval of the law and expressed: “Freedom for all political prisoners.”
The leader Claudia Macero emphasized the magnitude of the gathering: “What a pride to see the UCV's call for the release of ALL political prisoners and the closure of torture centers. It’s our youth encouraging a country that just needed to recognize itself after more than a year of fear and terror inflicted by an increasingly weak regime.”
The Argentine activist Agustín Antonetti, who shared images of the marches, wrote: “URGENT — Venezuelan students have just taken to the streets. Massive protests are reported in universities after a long time.”
The protests occur just days after Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, announced a "general amnesty law" that would cover "the entire period of political violence from 1999 to the present," including the years of chavismo under Hugo Chávez. Rodríguez stated that the measure aims to "promote coexistence in Venezuela" and "heal the wounds" left by the political confrontation, according to reports in recent press notes.
According to additional information, the amnesty proposal was discussed among the high-ranking members of the Chavista political leadership and has not yet been formally presented to Parliament. Human rights organizations have warned that, despite recent releases, there are still between 600 and 700 political prisoners, in addition to thousands of people under precautionary measures or in exile.
France 24, citing AFP, reported that around 500 people gathered at the UCV and that demonstrators shouted slogans such as "Freedom is in the streets and no one can stop it." The outlet added that the mobilization coincided with the first month of the U.S. military incursion that led to the capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and that the amnesty bill "was not on the agenda for this Tuesday's Parliamentary session."
Infobae reported that "hundreds of university students led a massive protest in Caracas on Tuesday to demand the release of all political prisoners and a comprehensive amnesty law." The outlet emphasized that the UCV Student Movement read a manifesto calling for the future law to "include all individuals processed, investigated, or convicted for political reasons, without exceptions," and that the process should be "transparent and subject to independent oversight."
The text also included statements from released opposition leaders, such as Yandir Loggiodice, who stated: “There can be no peace or reconciliation without justice, because it cannot happen again in Venezuela that a person is imprisoned for thinking differently.”
The march in Caracas reflected the resurgence of the Venezuelan student movement, which had been silenced for years by repression, and a growing pressure on the interim government of Delcy Rodríguez to fulfill its promise of total and transparent amnesty.
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