Venezuelan authorities have released several dozen more political prisoners amid calls for new elections, while Venezuela's leader pledged at the UN that elections will definitely occur, though no date has been set yet.
Foreign news agencies reported that Venezuelan authorities freed many political prisoners after the interim leader met with U.S. President Donald Trump in New York, amid rising demands for new elections.
The human rights group Foro Penal confirmed that many political prisoners were released from several prisons on Saturday morning, including Wilder Basquez, who served five years for conspiring to assassinate former President Nicolás Maduro, as well as Miguel Castillo Sedeño and Frank Gabanyas.
Previously, the interim government led by Delcy Rodríguez had released hundreds of prisoners as part of reconciliation talks, but releases slowed in April after the interim leader said the policy was ending. Still, this recent release is seen as a new sign of compromise, though the government has not officially announced it.
This latest group of political prisoner releases occurred after interim President Delcy Rodríguez met and negotiated with Donald Trump at the United Nations General Assembly, where Rodríguez confirmed there would "definitely be elections in Venezuela," but no exact date was given.
Rodríguez's actions come amid growing dissatisfaction from Venezuela's opposition, which views the U.S. as ignoring urgent calls for rapid elections and instead supporting the interim leader linked to the old regime rather than backing opposition leader María Corina Machado, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee.
Pedro Mario Burelli, a former oil company executive and opposition analyst, harshly criticized the meeting between Rodríguez and Trump, calling them "shameless puppets and a puppet master without fear," and said almost nothing has changed in Venezuela under Washington’s supervision.
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Source:bbc