Caracas, Jan 30 (EFE).-
Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez proposed a general amnesty law on Friday that would benefit political prisoners detained from 1999 to the present, a period encompassing the Chavista governments.
At the opening ceremony of the judicial year at the Supreme Court of Justice, Rodríguez instructed the Judicial Revolution Commission and the Program for Coexistence and Peace to present the law to the National Assembly (parliament) – dominated by Chavismo – “in the coming hours,” and pledged “maximum cooperation” to the legislative body for its approval.
“Let this be a law that serves to heal the wounds left by political confrontation, by violence, by extremism; let it serve to restore justice in our country and to restore coexistence among Venezuelans,” she added.
The proposed law excludes those prosecuted or convicted of homicide, drug trafficking, and human rights violations.
Furthermore, the official called for the conversion of El Helicoide, the headquarters of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN) in Caracas, which NGOs and opposition members have described as a center of “torture,” into a social and sports center.
She announced the proposal weeks after US President Donald Trump, with whom the interim government led by Rodríguez is maintaining relations, spoke of closing a “torture chamber” in the Venezuelan capital.
The Helicoide, an unfinished structure from the 1950s originally conceived as a shopping center, later became the headquarters of SEBIN and the Bolivarian National Police (PNB).
US pressure
Opposition leader María Corina Machado asserted that the general amnesty law is “a product of real pressure” from the United States and said she hopes it will be implemented.
“Obviously, this is not something the regime wanted to do voluntarily, but rather a product of the real pressure it has received from the United States government,” she stated during the “Let’s Talk About Venezuela” discussion with journalist Michael Stott at the Hay Festival in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia.
Machado, the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, said that in the oil-rich country, “the regime’s repressive apparatus is brutal” and “has served the interests of the multiple criminal forces that make up this regime.”
The opposition leader added that in Venezuela, “there are political prisoners who have been in prison for 23 years,” as is the case with three metropolitan police officers, and there are others “who have disappeared.”
According to the NGO Foro Penal, there are 771 political prisoners in Venezuela.
End of repression?
Opposition members of parliament also celebrated the announcement of the amnesty law, while calling for the legislation to mark the definitive end of “repression” and “persecution” in the country.
Deputy Henrique Capriles wrote on X that the amnesty is a “necessary and very important step” to move toward the country that “the vast majority of Venezuelans” want.
In his opinion, the announcement of the law and the closure of El Helicoide touches the “conscience of the country and restores hope to thousands of Venezuelan families who have suffered injustice and persecution.”
Likewise, Deputy Stalin González maintained that this legislative proposal opens a new chapter for “democratic coexistence in the country,” and therefore, he said he hopes it will be a broad measure that guarantees the freedom of all political prisoners. He also asked that “the physical closure” of El Helicoide “transcend to put an end to repression and persecution.”
Meanwhile, the NGO Provea pointed out that the political prisoners have been arbitrarily detained and therefore the State is not the one “who should forgive,” but rather “those responsible for serious crimes” should “ask forgiveness from the victims and society, and assume their responsibility before the Justice system for the abuses committed.”
Relatives of political prisoners in Venezuela told EFE on Friday that they feel “hopeful.” “We hope that our family members can enjoy the benefits that are being given (…) we will continue the fight until we can embrace our loved ones, who have also been victims of this terror,” Mariglys Guzmán told EFE, speaking outside the police station in Zone 7 of the National Police in eastern Caracas. EFE
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