Rubio urges Venezuela to release remaining political prisoners; Foro Penal says 322 still detained

The United States has urged Venezuela to release the remaining political prisoners being held in the South American country. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made the call during talks on Monday with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Oliver Blanco.

The US State Department said Rubio also discussed reforms aimed at laying the groundwork for free, fair and credible elections.

More than 1,000 political prisoners have been freed since US forces seized Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in a military raid on Caracas on 3 January and took him to New York, where he faces trial on drug-trafficking and torture charges.

But Venezuelan prisoners' rights group Foro Penal says 322 people remain in detention.

The release of political prisoners has long been a demand of Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. Machado, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025, returned to Venezuela on 25 October after living in exile for almost a year. One of her first meetings was with relatives of political detainees.

Many of those in detention were arrested in the aftermath of the 2024 presidential election. The National Electoral Council (CNE), which is dominated by government loyalists, declared the incumbent, Nicolas Maduro, the winner of the election even though copies of the voting tallies collected by the opposition and verified by independent media suggested that the opposition candidate had won.

The Carter Center, which had sent independent observers to Venezuela, also said that the election could not be considered democratic. A UN fact-finding mission found that in the months that followed, the Venezuelan government orchestrated a harsh repression against persons perceived as political opponents or simply because they expressed dissent or critical views against the authorities.

After US forces seized Maduro, his loyal vice-president, Delcy Rodriguez, was sworn in as interim president. While Rodriguez has the backing of the Trump administration, opposition parties within Venezuela have been expressing impatience with the slow pace of reforms.

In Monday's statement, the US State Department stressed that it remained committed to President Donald Trump's three-phase plan, consisting of stabilisation, economic recovery and political reconciliation, and democratic transition.

A week ago, Rubio had told journalists that Venezuela's election infrastructure had to be replaced in order for fresh elections to be valid. 'Not in 10 years, not in five years, not in two years; it needs to happen quickly under the timelines that we've established,' he insisted.

Days later, Rodriguez told Venezuelans in a televised address that there will be elections under a renewed electoral authority. However, she did not give a timeline for when the election could be held. Opposition leader Machado, on the other hand, has been pushing for elections to be held in 2027. At one point she suggested 24 July 2027, the anniversary of the birth of independence hero Simon Bolivar, but she has since returned to calling for a vote at some point in the next year.