Italy Venezuela: NGOs press for freedom for political prisoners
Human rights organizations are pushing for rapid progress on the release of political prisoners promised by the government in Venezuela.
12.01.2026, 16:54
SDA
Following criticism from NGOs that the process is making slow progress, the Venezuelan prison administration announced that "116 new prisoners have been released in the last few hours". In December 2025, 187 people had already been released.
The non-governmental organization "Justicia, Encuentro y Perdón" was initially unable to confirm the new figure, but announced that it had been able to verify 53 releases. Previously, it had spoken of 24 confirmed cases. In view of the high expectations and the many unjustly imprisoned, the pace of releases is "clearly insufficient", the organization wrote on X.
The human rights organization "Foro Penal" also published a list of people whose release it can confirm. There are 41 cases. Among them are two Italian citizens - the aid worker Alberto Trentini and the entrepreneur Mario Burlò. Prominent opposition politicians such as Juan Pablo Guanipa were not on the list. The human rights activist Rocío San Miguel was part of an earlier group of 17 released persons, the organization announced.
Meloni: Italians in safety
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said that Trentini and Burlò were "safe in the Italian embassy in Caracas". She had spoken to both of them; a plane from Rome was already on its way to bring them to Italy. Meloni thanked Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez for her "constructive cooperation".
Nationwide vigils
The government in Caracas had announced last week that it would release a large number of Venezuelan and foreign prisoners, but gave neither numbers nor names. Parliamentary speaker Jorge Rodríguez, brother of Delcy Rodríguez, spoke of a gesture "in search of peace".
According to media reports, relatives of political prisoners held vigils outside detention centers across the country and complained about the lack of information from the authorities.
Human rights organizations have been criticizing arbitrary arrests and non-transparent prison conditions for years. El Helicoide prison in Caracas in particular is regarded as a symbol of state repression; former prisoners report abuse and torture.
