The former Cuban boxing world champion Yordenis Ugás launched a strong critique of the administration of President Donald Trump, questioning why, following the U.S. operation that resulted in the capture of Nicolás Maduro and the recent oil agreement with Venezuela, there are still political prisoners in the South American country.
In a message posted this Sunday on his X account, Ugás contrasted the actions that Washington has managed to undertake in Venezuela with the lack of a complete release of those imprisoned for political reasons.
The boxer referred to three specific events: the entry of U.S. forces into Venezuela, the capture of Maduro, and the oil agreement recently announced by Trump.
Based on that comparison, he questioned why the release of all political prisoners has not been achieved as well.
The criticism is particularly significant because Ugás, a former world welterweight champion of the World Boxing Association (WBA), has repeatedly used his social media to speak out on political issues related to Cuba and other countries in the region.
The first of the events mentioned by the boxer took place last January.
Trump then confirmed that U.S. forces had captured Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, during a military operation in Venezuela and had transferred them out of the country.
Maduro was later taken to New York to face federal charges.
Eight months later, Venezuela and the United States experienced another significant turn of events. Trump announced on August 28 what he referred to as “the largest oil deal in world history.”
The agreement includes 17 oil fields with proven reserves of 65 billion barrels and grants the United States 55% of the effective production, according to the details known so far.
Indeed, the situation of political prisoners has been one of the unresolved issues since Maduro's capture.
In January, Rodríguez initiated a process of releases and later announced an amnesty.
The United States confirmed at the end of that month the release of all known American citizens who were still detained in Venezuela.
The releases continued in the following months. In May, Venezuelan authorities announced the release of another 300 individuals, although human rights organizations questioned the transparency and the actual extent of the process.
However, the release has not been complete. The most recent balance published by the organization Foro Penal before new releases in mid-August recorded 391 political prisoners in Venezuela as of August 10: 228 civilians and 163 military personnel.
Of them, 158 had been convicted and 233 remained without conviction.
For her part, Delcy Rodríguez affirmed on August 25 that 1,046 Venezuelans had been released since January as part of the so-called Democratic Coexistence and Peace Program.
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