Venezuela’s Rodriguez plans Amnesty law that seeks to release prisoners – Skepticism, however, remains
On January 30th, 2026, the Interim President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, announced an amnesty law that would speed up the process of releasing prisoners across the country, most notably from the infamous Helicoide Detention Center. The Helicoide detention center, described by a 2022 UN report as a place filled with torture and abuse, will be converted into a center used for sports and social services.
The type of prisoners who will be released will include those from today, all the way to back to those who have been imprisoned as far back as 1999, the year former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Nicolas Maduro’s predecessor, took power. Currently, The human rights organization, Foro Penal, welcomed the decision but with caution, hoping that the law can get Venezuela closer to justice and peace, while also urging the Venezuelan government to continue to release political prisoners while the law is being approved.
According to Amnesty International and Foro Penal, ever since Hugo Chavez took power, various arbitrary arrests have been made against members of the opposition. Moreover, human rights organizations have stated that many of these arrested have been falsely charged with terrorism and treason.
These arbitrary arrests and false charges have caused the Venezuelan opposition to remain skeptical of the government’s genuineness in enforcing the amnesty law. Moreover, those in the opposition don’t view this amnesty law as a voluntary choice by the government, but rather as something that was pressured on to them by the US through the capture of Nicolas Maduro. This view is shared by Nobel Peace Prize winner and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado who stated that the law “isn’t something the regime wanted to do voluntarily, but is rather a product of the real pressure it has received from the United States government”.
Not only does skepticism exist regarding the amnesty law, but families of those incarcerated, along with the opposition, keep demanding accountability for the mistreatment of prisoners. This is further exacerbated by the case of Oscar Castañeda, a former political prisoner who more than a year ago, was detained and imprisoned in the Helicoide Detention Center. The arrest occurred due to his campaigning efforts in favor of Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez in the 2024 Venezuelan Presidential Elections. When he was released, he was initially not able to remember who his family members were and had trouble walking, further proving the UN’s findings of torture and abuse from 2022.
Although the Venezuelan government’s amnesty law could lead to the release of political prisoners, the government’s history of arbitrary arrests, along with possible evidence of torture in these detention centers keeps skepticism alive among human rights groups, and the popular Venezuelan opposition.