Venezuela releasing 'large number' of political prisoners

Venezuelan authorities are releasing a "large number" of prisoners, some of them foreigners, five days after US forces ousted authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro, National Assembly Speaker Jorge Rodríguez said Thursday.

He told reporters the government was carrying out the immediate "release of a large number of Venezuelan and foreign nationals" in what he called a "unilateral gesture."

It was the first sign of possible concessions by Venezuela's interim government since US President Donald Trump's administration said it was "in charge" in Venezuela after US forces seized Maduro and took him to New York to face trial.

Jorge Rodríguez did not say how many prisoners were being released, nor the identity of those freed, though he emphasised the process has already begun.

"For peaceful coexistence, the Bolivarian government, together with state institutions, has decided to release a significant number of Venezuelan and foreign nationals," he said in comments broadcast by state media. 

The non-governmental monitor Foro Penal says there are 806 political prisoners held in Venezuela, including 175 military personnel.

"Good news!" wrote lawyer Alfredo Romero, a representative for Foro Penal, which defends political prisoners in Venezuela. “"We already know of some people on their way to freedom, including foreigners.”

Trump said Tuesday that Venezuelan authorities were "closing up" a "torture chamber in the middle of Caracas," without elaborating.

The news generated a swift reaction from families of the detainees in Venezuela, who began holding vigils and protests while awaiting official confirmation of the names released.

– TIMES/AFP/NA