Sawt Falasteen - Venezuela releases more political prisoners as pressure builds

Under pressure from Washington, the government in Caracas last week said it would free people jailed under Maduro -- many of them for taking part in protests after his disputed 2024 reelection.

Relatives have been camped out at prisons ever since and have grown increasingly restless as their loved ones have failed to appear.

Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodriguez, despite being a staunch Maduro ally, is negotiating on several fronts with Washington, which is looking to take advantage of Venezuela's vast oil reserves.

On Sunday, Trump said he was open to a meeting with Rodriguez and that his administration was working "really well" with hers.

US envoys visited Caracas on Friday to discuss reopening Washington's embassy there seven years after diplomatic ties were severed.

Venezuela on Monday said 116 political prisoners had been released in recent hours, though opposition and rights groups report lower figures.

About 50 people have been freed since last Thursday, according to an AFP tally based on figures from NGOs and the opposition.

Human rights groups estimate there are between 800 and 1,200 political prisoners in Venezuela.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on Monday urged Pope Leo XIV to "intercede" on behalf of political prisoners.

"I asked him to intercede for all Venezuelans who remain kidnapped and disappeared," Machado said after an audience with the pontiff at the Vatican.

"With the accompaniment of the Church and the unprecedented pressure from the United States Government, the defeat of evil in the country is closer," she added in a statement posted to X by her team.

Over the weekend, Trump celebrated the initial releases and said he hoped the freed prisoners "will remember how lucky they got that the USA came along and did what had to be done."

However, experts mandated to a UN fact-finding mission said in a statement the number of people freed so far, about 50 by its own count, "falls far short of Venezuela's international human rights obligations."

The government in Caracas said a review of prisoner files was ongoing.

- A long wait -

Frustration was growing among about 40 relatives still camped out Monday outside El Rodeo prison, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Caracas.

Rights NGO Foro Penal said 15 people had been released from the facility, but family members told AFP they were whisked away through a back exit without seeing the loved ones waiting for them.

"Other families are telling us that they're taken to a place near El Rodeo, asked to remove their uniforms, given civilian clothes, and even sprayed with perfume," said Daniela Camacho, who was waiting for her jailed husband Jose Daniel Mendoza.

Mendoza's father, Manuel, had driven six hours to be at the prison for his son's release, and said his patience was running low.

"We simply ask that they keep their word," he said of the authorities.

"It's already been four nights waiting out in the open air, suffering."

- 'Transition to democracy' -

Machado said she had underscored opposition figure Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia's "legitimacy" in her talks with Leo, and sought the pope's backing for "the prompt advancement of the transition to democracy in Venezuela."

The opposition and much of the international community consider Gonzalez Urrutia the legitimate victor of 2024 presidential elections that institutions loyal to Maduro had prevented Machado from taking part in.

Since Maduro's ouster, many were left astounded by Trump's rejection of Machado as interim leader.

She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year and dedicated it to Trump, who has made no secret of his frustration at being passed over for the award.

Machado is to travel to Washington this week, where she is to meet the Republican president.

Chicago-born Leo called for Venezuela's sovereignty to be respected in a speech to diplomats last week.

Z.AbuSaud--SF-PST