The Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado called for a worldwide mobilization on Sunday, May 3 under the slogan #LetThemAllBe, with simultaneous gatherings in over 120 cities around the world at noon, Venezuela time.
"We will raise our voice this Sunday, May 3rd, so that the world hears the cry for freedom, for justice, and for democracy that we raise today from Venezuela," stated Machado in the call-to-action video released by the organization Mundo Con Venezuela.
The opposition leader emphasized that the urgency of the mobilization is due to the fact that more than 500 political prisoners are still not released in Venezuela. "There are still more than 500 political prisoners, both civilians and military, who are behind bars at this moment. They and their families need our voice, they need our strength," she asserted.
The immediate context of the call is the abrupt closure of the Law of Amnesty for Democratic Coexistence, which Delcy Rodríguez announced on April 25, just two months after its promulgation, when hundreds of detainees were still imprisoned.
Foro Penal counted 454 political prisoners as of April 27, 2026, among them 186 military personnel, despite approximately 800 actual releases being recorded since January. The organization Justice, Encounter, and Forgiveness raises that number to 676 detainees, including 187 officials and 34 foreigners.
The gap between official figures and verified ones has been a constant since the beginning of the process: the Venezuelan government reported over 8,000 amnesty recipients by counting precautionary measures that do not involve detention, which Foro Penal does not include in its records.
The military personnel accused of rebellion who remain incarcerated were excluded from the outset of the amnesty, which intensified criticism from family members and human rights organizations. Family members of prisoners held uninterrupted vigils for 100 days in front of prisons such as El Rodeo I and El Helicoide, denouncing that the releases progressed "slowly" and that the authorities never published an official list of those benefited.
The mobilization on Sunday adds to a series of protests that began in February, when thousands marched in Caracas on February 4 and students took to the streets again on February 12 to demand the freedom of all political prisoners.
The concentration points for Sunday are being shared through the accounts of Comando con Venezuela and Mundo Venezuela on social media, where recently released political prisoners and their families will also participate to share testimonies.
"Raise your voice. Now more than ever, we are determined to ensure there is freedom, justice, memory, respect, democracy, and of course, the reunion of our families in our country. We will see each other this Sunday, May 3," Machado concluded in his call to the Venezuelan diaspora.
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