Name: Venezuela plans mass amnesty law for hundreds of prisoners | REUTERS
Uploaded: 2026-01-31T17:30:26.000Z
Duration: 1 min 43 s
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Venezuela announced a proposed amnesty law for hundreds of prisoners in the country on Friday.

Interim President Dulcie Rodriguez said the infamous Elicorde detention center in Caracas would be converted into a center for sports and social services.

She said the law will cover cases from 1999 until present day, with the goal being to heal wounds left by political confrontation and violence.

But she said it will exclude those who may have participated in killings, serious abuses of human rights and drug trafficking.

It could also affect former prisoners who have already been conditionally released.

Rights group Fouro Pino welcomed the announcement with cautious optimism.

The group added that the prisoner releases announced earlier this month should continue while the law is being approved.

Venezuela's opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corino Machado praised the proposal.

Obviously this is not something the regime wanted to do voluntarily, but

it is the result of real pressure from the United States government.

Hopefully, the more than 700 prisoners who are still in torture centers in Venezuela can be with their families very soon.

Rights advocates have long demanded that charges in convictions against political prisoners be dropped.

Many of them are often subject to charges like terrorism and treason, which their families say are unjust and arbitrary.