Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado speaks onstage during an event to meet with members of Venezuela’s community residing in Chile, in Santiago, Chile.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Venezuelan authorities have granted amnesty to 379 political prisoners, a lawmaker said Friday (February 20, 2026), after a new law was enacted by interim authorities following the U.S. toppling of former leader Nicolas Maduro.

Venezuela’s National Assembly unanimously adopted the law a day before, providing hope that hundreds of political prisoners behind bars may soon be released.

National Assembly deputy Jorge Arreaza, the lawmaker overseeing the amnesty process, said in a televised interview on Friday (February 20)that the 379 prisoners “must be released, granted amnesty, between tonight and tomorrow morning.”

“Requests have been submitted by the Public Prosecutor’s Office to the competent courts to grant amnesty measures,” he said.

Opposition figures have criticized the new legislation, which appears to include carveouts for some offenses previously used by authorities to target Mr. Maduro’s political opponents. It explicitly does not apply to those prosecuted for “promoting” or “facilitating… armed or forceful actions” against Venezuela’s sovereignty by foreign actors.

Interim President Delcy Rodriguez has levelled such accusations against Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who hopes to return to Venezuela at some point from the United States. The law also excludes members of the security forces convicted of “terrorism”-related activities.

“Many of us are aware that the amnesty law does not cover our relatives,” Hiowanka Avila, 39, told AFP outside the Rodeo 1 prison near Caracas, where many of the detainees are ex-soldiers or officers.

Her brother Henryberth Rivas, 30, was arrested in 2018 for allegedly taking part in an assassination attempt against Mr. Maduro using armed drones. Mr. Arreaza said earlier that “the military justice system will handle” relevant cases for members of the armed forces, “and grant benefits where appropriate.”

A long wait

Many relatives of prisoners across Venezuela have waited outside jails for weeks for the potential release of their loved ones. Hundreds have already been granted conditional release by Interim President Delcy Rodriguez’s government since the deadly U.S. raid that seized Mr. Maduro.

The NGO Foro Penal had said before the announcement that some 650 were detained, a toll that has not been updated since.

Foro Penal director Alfredo Romero said Friday (February 20) that receiving “amnesty is not automatic,” but would require a process in the courts, viewed by many as an arm of Mr. Maduro’s repression.

President Rodriguez defended her government Friday (February 20, 2026) in a speech on state television, saying “we are building a more democratic, more just, and freer Venezuela, and it must be with the effort of everyone.”

‘Completely free’

Opposition politician Juan Pablo Guanipa, a Mr. Machado ally, announced his release from detention shortly after the Bill was passed.

Earlier this month he had been freed from prison but then quickly re-detained and kept under house arrest. “I am now completely free,” Mr. Guanipa wrote on social media.

He called for all other political prisoners to be freed and exiles to be allowed to return. Earlier on Friday (February 20, 2026), he rallied with supporters in his hometown of Maracaibo, Venezuela’s second city.

The legislation has also faced criticism from rights groups over its potential use to excuse abuses under Mr. Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chavez.

Exiled Venezuelan Opposition figurehead Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia on Friday (February 20, 2026) said there would be “no lasting reconciliation without memory or responsibility” in his country.

“A responsible amnesty is the transition from fear to the rule of law. It is the pledge that power will not be exercised again without limits and that the law will be above force,” Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia wrote on X.

Exiled in Spain, Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia is widely considered the rightful victor of the 2024 Presidential elections marred by fraud allegations in which Mr. Maduro was declared the winner.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Venezuelans have been jailed in recent years over plots, real or imagined, to overthrow the government of Maduro — who was taken to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking and other charges.

Ms. Rodriguez was formerly Maduro’s vice president and took his place as the South American country’s leader with the consent of US President Donald Trump, provided that she toe Washington’s line. The United States has taken over control of Venezuela’s oil sales, with Mr. Trump vowing a share for Washington in the profits.

Published – February 21, 2026 10:44 pm IST

Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans on Wednesday (January 28, 2026) to warn that the Trump administration is ready to take new military action against Venezuela if the country’s interim leadership strays from U.S. expectations.

In prepared testimony for a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Rubio says the U.S. is not at war with Venezuela and that its interim leaders are cooperating, but he notes that the Trump administration would not rule out using additional force if needed following a raid to capture former President Nicolas Maduro early this month.

“We are prepared to use force to ensure maximum cooperation if other methods fail,” Mr. Rubio will say, according to his prepared opening statement released Tuesday (January 27, 2026) by the State Department. “It is our hope that this will not prove necessary, but we will never shy away from our duty to the American people and our mission in this hemisphere.” As he often is called to do, Mr. Rubio, a former Florida senator, will aim to sell one of President Donald Trump’s more contentious priorities to former colleagues in Congress. With the administration’s foreign policy gyrating between the Western Hemisphere, Europe and the West Asia, Mr. Rubio also may be called to smooth alarm that has emerged in his own party lately about efforts like Mr. Trump’s demand to annex Greenland.

In the hearing focused on Venezuela, Mr. Rubio will defend Mr. Trump’s decisions to remove Mr. Maduro to face drug trafficking charges in the U.S., continue deadly military strikes on boats suspected of smuggling drugs and seize sanctioned tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, according to the prepared remarks. He will again reject allegations that Mr. Trump is violating the Constitution by taking such actions.

Read | Pressure points: On Trump seeking Venezuela’s oil without costs of occupation

“There is no war against Venezuela, and we did not occupy a country,” he will say, according to the prepared remarks. “There are no U.S. troops on the ground. This was an operation to aid law enforcement.” Congress has not curtailed Mr. Trump on Venezuela.

Congressional Democrats have condemned Mr. Trump’s moves as exceeding the authority of the executive branch, while most — but not all — Republicans have supported them as a legitimate exercise of presidential power.

The House narrowly defeated a war powers act resolution that would have directed Mr. Trump to remove U.S. troops from Venezuela. As Mr. Rubio will argue, the administration says there are no U.S. troops on the ground in the South American nation despite a large military buildup in the region.

Democrats had argued that the resolution was necessary after the U.S. raid to capture Mr. Maduro, and because Mr. Trump has stated plans to control the country’s oil industry for years to come.

The pushback has begun in the courts, too, as the families of two Trinidadian nationals killed in a Trump administration boat strike filed what is thought to be the first wrongful death case arising from the campaign. Three dozen strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean have killed at least 126 people since September.

The U.S. takes steps to normalise ties, while still issuing warnings..

While keeping pressure on those whom the Trump administration dubs “narcotraffickers” without providing evidence, U.S. officials are working to normalise ties with Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodríguez. Nonetheless, Mr. Rubio will make clear in his testimony that she has little choice but to comply with Mr. Trump’s demands.

“Rodríguez is well aware of the fate of Maduro; it is our belief that her own self-interest aligns with advancing our key objectives,” Mr. Rubio said, noting that they include opening Venezuela’s energy sector to U.S. companies, providing preferential access to production, using oil revenue to purchase American goods, and ending subsidised oil exports to Cuba.

Ms. Rodríguez, who previously served as Mr. Maduro’s Vice-President, on Tuesday (January 27, 2026) said her government and the Trump administration “have established respectful and courteous channels of communication.” During televised remarks, Ms. Rodríguez said she is working with Mr. Trump and Mr. Rubio to set “a working agenda.” So far, she has appeared to acquiesce to Mr. Trump’s demands and to release prisoners jailed by the government under Mr. Maduro and his predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez. On Monday, the head of a Venezuelan human rights group said 266 political prisoners had been freed since January 8.

Mr. Trump had praised the releases, saying on social media that he would “like to thank the leadership of Venezuela for agreeing to this powerful humanitarian gesture!” In a key step to the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries, the State Department notified Congress just this week that it intends to begin sending additional diplomatic and support personnel to Caracas to prepare for the possible reopening of the U.S. Embassy there.

It was the first formal notice of the administration’s intent to reopen the embassy, which shuttered in 2019. Fully normalising ties, however, would require the U.S. to revoke its decision recognising the Venezuelan parliament elected in 2015 as the country’s legitimate government.

Mr. Rubio also planned to meet Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado later Wednesday (January 28, 2026) at the State Department.

Ms. Machado went into hiding after Mr. Maduro was declared the winner of the 2024 presidential election despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. She reemerged in December to pick up her Nobel Peace Prize in Norway. After Mr. Maduro was ousted, she came to Washington. In a meeting with Mr. Trump, she presented him with her Peace Prize medal, an extraordinary gesture given that Mr. Trump has effectively sidelined her.

Published – January 28, 2026 11:36 am IST

A file image of Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez. File
| Photo Credit: AP

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday (January 11, 2026) his administration was working well with Venezuela’s interim leader Delcy Rodriguez — and that he would be open to meeting with her.

Mr. Trump’s upbeat remarks came just over a week after Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro was seized in a U.S. special forces raid and brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges.

Mr. Trump has said that the United States now has de facto control of Venezuela, as it enforces a naval blockade of the South American nation’s vital oil exports.

Ms. Rodriguez, despite being a close Maduro ally, has indicated a willingness to work with the United States, saying she is open to cooperate on Mr. Trump’s demands for access to Venezuelan oil.

Her government has also vowed to release political prisoners and begin talks on reestablishing diplomatic ties with Washington.

U.S. envoys visited Caracas on Friday (January 9, 2026) to discuss reopening Washington’s embassy there.

“Venezuela is really working out well. We’re working along really well with the leadership,” Mr. Trump told reporters Sunday (January 11, 2026) aboard Air Force One.

Asked if he planned to meet with Mr. Rodriguez, Mr. Trump said: “At some point I’ll be.”

He also said he expected to meet with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on Tuesday (January 13, 2026) or Wednesday (January 14, 2026).

Many were stunned when Mr. Trump dismissed the possibility of Ms. Machado serving as Venezuela’s interim leader following the toppling of Mr. Maduro, and instead accepted Ms. Rodriguez’s ascent.

Ms. Machado was given the Nobel Peace Prize last year and dedicated it to Mr. Trump, though he has made no secret of his frustration at being passed over for the award.

Political prisoners

The Venezuelan government began to release prisoners jailed under Mr. Maduro on Thursday (January 8, 2026), saying a “large” number would be released — but rights groups and the opposition say only about 20 have walked free so far, including several prominent opposition figures.

Relatives have gathered outside prisons believed to be holding political detainees, to await their loved ones’ release, sometimes even camping outside.

Rights groups estimate there are 800 to 1,200 political prisoners currently being held in Venezuela.

“Venezuela has started the process, in a BIG WAY, of releasing their political prisoners. Thank you!” Mr. Trump said in a post late Saturday (January 10, 2026) on his Truth Social platform.

“I hope those prisoners will remember how lucky they got that the USA came along and did what had to be done.”

Meanwhile, a detained police officer accused of “treason” against Venezuela died in state custody after a stroke and heart attack, the state prosecution service confirmed Sunday (January 11, 2026).

Opposition groups said the 52-year-old man, Edison Jose Torres Fernandez, had shared messages critical of Mr. Maduro’s government.

“We directly hold the regime of Delcy Rodriguez responsible for this death,” Justice First, part of the Venezuelan opposition alliance, said on X.

Late Saturday (January 10, 2026), families held candlelight vigils outside El Rodeo prison east of Caracas and El Helicoide, a notorious jail run by the intelligence services, holding signs with the names of their imprisoned relatives.

Prisoners include Freddy Superlano, a close ally of Ms. Machado who was jailed after challenging Maduro’s widely contested reelection in 2024.

“He is alive — that was what I was most afraid about,” Mr. Superlano’s wife Aurora Silva told reporters.

“He is standing strong and I am sure he is going to come out soon.”

Mr. Maduro’s supporters rallied in Caracas on Saturday but the demonstrations were far smaller than his camp had mustered in the past, and top figures from his government were notably absent.

Oil

Mr. Trump pressed top oil executives at a White House meeting on Friday to invest in Venezuela, but was met with a cautious reception.

ExxonMobil’s chief executive Darren Woods notably dismissed the country as “uninvestable” without sweeping reforms — earning a rebuke from Mr. Trump.

“I didn’t like Exxon’s response. You know, we have so many that want it, I’d probably be inclined to keep Exxon out. I didn’t like their response. They’re playing too cute,” Mr. Trump said Sunday (January 11, 2026).

Experts say Venezuela’s oil infrastructure is creaky after years of mismanagement and sanctions.

Published – January 12, 2026 11:35 pm IST