Venezuela Frees 39 Detainees After Opposition Talks; Hundreds Still Jailed

VENEZUELA · HUMAN RIGHTS

Dozens of Venezuela political prisoners walked out of jails across the country overnight into Saturday. It was the latest wave in a slow release process that began in January.

The rights group Justicia, Encuentro y Perdón (Justice, Encounter and Forgiveness, or JEP) counted 39 people freed on 25 and 26 September. The releases came hours after government and opposition negotiators closed a second round of talks held with US approval.

What happened on Friday night

JEP first confirmed 29 releases during the night of Friday 25 September, Venezuelan outlets including El Nacional and Runrunes reported. By Saturday its count had risen to 39.

JEP later said 17 of those freed were not on its own register of political prisoners, the Caracas daily El Diario reported. The government has published no list or total of its own.

Those freed include eight women accused of “narco-terrorism” in 2021, according to the French news agency AFP. Six others were accused of working with the United States in a failed 2020 attempt to overthrow Maduro.

“We will remain vigilant and continue to demand full freedom for all those who are still waiting,” JEP said on X.

Who walked out

Foro Penal, a network of volunteer lawyers that defends political detainees free of charge, confirmed several cases by name. It is the most widely cited source on political imprisonment in Venezuela.

Franks Cabañas left prison shortly after midnight on Saturday, after nine years inside. He had been held since 13 September 2017 over links to Óscar Pérez, a rebel police pilot killed in 2018.

Cabañas was the last person still detained in that case, according to El Diario. His family had complained for months that he was not receiving specialist medical care.

Retired colonel Miguel Castillo Cedeño was freed on Friday from Ramo Verde, a military prison near Caracas. Foro Penal says he had been held since 21 June 2019.

On Saturday afternoon the group confirmed the release of police commissioner José Gregorio Valladares from El Rodeo I, a prison outside Caracas. After walking out, he asked Venezuelans not to forget the political prisoners still behind bars.

How the releases have unfolded since January

US forces seized Maduro in a raid in early January 2026. Rodríguez, his vice president, took over as interim president and has governed under pressure from Washington since.

She enacted an amnesty law in February. From 20 February to 14 September, Foro Penal records 188 detainees who won full freedom or had their cases dropped under it.

On 14 August the government said 131 political prisoners had been granted “alternative measures” to prison. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio then said more than 1,000 Venezuelans had been released since Maduro’s removal.

Foro Penal’s own tally is similar. It logs 1,073 releases in 2026 up to 14 September, against 32 new political arrests in the same period.

How many remain behind bars

Foro Penal counted 344 political prisoners on 14 September, before this week’s releases. That was down from 391 on 10 August, according to AFP.

Of the 344, 200 are civilians and 144 are members of the military. More than half, 191, have never been convicted of anything.

More than 11,400 other people remain under court-imposed restrictions on their liberty short of prison, the group says.

By a rough estimate, over 300 Venezuela political prisoners remain even if all 39 were on Foro Penal’s list. The group has not yet published an updated total.

Earlier this month a UN fact-finding mission reported that Venezuela Still Runs Maduro’s Repression System, UN Mission Says. The releases have not dismantled the courts, police and prisons that produced the arrests.

The talks behind the releases

The government delegation is led by National Assembly president Jorge Rodríguez, the interim president’s brother. The opposition side is headed by Dinorah Figuera.

Figuera led the opposition bloc that won the 2015 parliamentary election, Venezuela’s last vote recognised internationally. Opposition leader María Corina Machado, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate in exile, is excluded.

Talks began in August and resumed in mid-September (see Venezuela: Government, Opposition Restart Talks on Courts and Vote). That second round ended on Friday with a deal on the courts.

The two sides named a seven-member committee to review how Supreme Court justices are chosen. It is the first concrete step toward the judicial reform the opposition has long demanded.

Prisoners are not formally on the agenda. “We have come to a table where the issue of political prisoners is not included,” Figuera told prisoners’ relatives on 19 September.

She promised to raise the issue in future rounds. Foro Penal’s leaders, who also met her, told her that partial releases “do not solve the structural problem” of arbitrary detention.

Rodríguez met Trump at a reception in New York on Tuesday 22 September, beside the UN General Assembly. In his UN speech that day, Trump cited the release of hundreds of Venezuelan political prisoners as a result of the raid.

What comes next

Foro Penal’s full count of the latest releases is the next figure to watch. A third round of talks is due in mid-October and will show whether prisoners formally join the agenda.

The releases do not mean Venezuela’s justice system has changed. “Without an urgent and complete reconstruction of the justice system, it will be impossible to guarantee freedoms,” said Foro Penal’s Alfredo Romero.

Nor are all those released necessarily free of charges. The 131 releases announced in August came as “alternative measures” to prison.

The government has not said on what terms this week’s detainees left.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many political prisoners are still held in Venezuela?

Foro Penal, which tracks Venezuela political prisoners case by case, counted 344 on 14 September 2026, before the latest releases. Its updated count after the releases of 25 and 26 September has not yet been published.

Who is releasing the prisoners?

The interim government of Delcy Rodríguez, which has governed under US pressure since Nicolás Maduro was seized in January. The latest releases followed a second round of talks with the opposition, held with US approval.

What is Foro Penal?

A Venezuelan network of volunteer lawyers that defends people detained for political reasons, free of charge. Its counts are the most widely cited reference on political imprisonment in Venezuela.

Is it safe for foreigners to travel to Venezuela?

Western governments still warn about travel there. Foro Penal counts 32 foreign nationals among the political prisoners it tracks, so the risk of arbitrary detention has not gone away.

Sources: Foro Penal, “La represión en cifras” (figures to 14 September 2026) and case confirmations of 25–26 September 2026; Justicia, Encuentro y Perdón statements as reported by AFP, El Diario, El Nacional and Runrunes, 26 September 2026; joint statement on the second round of talks, via AFP, 25 September 2026; El Estímulo on Dinorah Figuera’s meeting with prisoners’ families, 20 September 2026; White House and New York Post on the Trump–Rodríguez meeting, 22 September 2026; IMF World Economic Outlook, April 2026; World Bank population data.

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