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Venezuela has released Juan Pablo Guanipa, a political ally of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, after eight months in detention, his son said.
The former vice president of the National Assembly is among several political prisoners released since the United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January.
“Our whole family will soon be able to hug each other again,” Ramón Guanipa wrote on social media, warning: “There are still hundreds of Venezuelans unjustly imprisoned.”
Opposition and human rights groups say Maduro’s government has for years used the detention of political prisoners to stifle dissent and silence critics.
Although the interim government established in his absence promised on January 8 that a “significant number” of detainees would be released, progress progressed slowly over the following weeks, with a handful released at a time.
Foro Penal, which helps political prisoners in Venezuela, says nearly 400 people have been freed.
Its president Alfredo Romero said at least 30 people had been released on Sunday, including Guanipa. Perkins Rocha, Jesús Armas and Luis Tarbay were also cited as having been released.
Since Venezuela’s widely contested 2024 presidential election – which saw Maduro officially re-elected despite opposition results suggesting their candidate had won a landslide victory – critics of his rule have said legal cases against activists, journalists and Maduro’s political opponents have increased.
Among them was Guanipa, who went into hiding after being accused of terrorism and treason for contesting the 2024 results.
He was found by Venezuelan security forces and arrested in May 2025.
Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Machado, who was also in hiding at the time, said his colleague had been “kidnapped” in an “act of state terrorism.”
Guanipa is the leader of the center-right Justice First party. He was elected governor of the Zulia region, but was unable to take office after refusing to take the oath of office before Maduro’s National Constituent Assembly.
Reuters
As Maduro stands trial on drug trafficking charges in New York, Guanipa’s son appeared skeptical days after the interim government announced its “goodwill gesture.”
Ramon Guanipa told BBC Mundo at the time that he felt “defeated” when his father was not among the first inmates to be released.
“But at the same time, we find another reason to fight,” he said. “I fight for them [the interim government] actually do what they say they are going to do. »
The release of political prisoners was one of US President Donald Trump’s demands on the interim government, calling it a “very important and smart move” by Venezuela.
He opted not to install Machado as Venezuela’s president after capturing Maduro in a daring raid on Caracas, instead allowing Maduro ally Delcy Rodriguez to take over.
