Venezuela freed multiple Americans detained in the country, the State Department announced, the latest concession after the operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The new government of acting President Delcy Rodriguez has continued to play ball with the Trump administration, releasing more prisoners on Monday and Tuesday as part of a wider loosening of political restrictions. Four Americans were released jointly on Tuesday and one on Monday, sources familiar with the matter told the Associated Press, meaning Caracas no longer holds any Americans in its custody.
“We welcome the release of detained Americans in Venezuela,” the State Department said. “This is an important step in the right direction by the interim authorities.”
On Thursday, Jorge Rodriguez, brother of Delcy Rodriguez and head of Venezuela’s legislature, announced the release of an “important number” of political prisoners, though didn’t give many details.
“In order to contribute and collaborate in the effort that all of us must make for national unity and peaceful coexistence, the Bolivarian government, together with the institutions of the state, has decided to free an important number of Venezuelan and foreign individuals,” he said at the time.
“Consider this gesture by the Bolivarian government, with its broad intention of seeking peace, as the contribution that all of us must make so that our republic can continue its life in peace and in pursuit of prosperity,” Rodriguez added.
Human rights groups estimated that over 800 political prisoners were being held in Venezuela before the new releases began, with 40 of those being foreign nationals. Many of those released as of Tuesday have been foreign nationals, including many or all of the roughly 20 Spaniards being held in Venezuela.
VENEZUELA COMMITS TO RELEASING ‘IMPORTANT NUMBER’ OF POLITICAL PRISONERS
The Spanish foreign ministry announced the release of “five Spanish nationals, one of them a citizen with dual nationality, who are preparing to travel to Spain with assistance from our embassy in Caracas,” on Thursday. It praised the releases as a “positive step” in the “new phase” of “fraternal relations” between Spain and the Venezuelan people.
Delcy Rodriguez has made several major concessions to Washington since the daring operation that saw U.S. Delta Force commandos seize Maduro from the middle of Caracas in the dead of night. She signed an oil deal granting the U.S. exclusive influence over who Venezuela’s oil is sold to.
