On Monday, the Venezuelan NGO Foro Penal reported that the socialist regime in Venezuela is currently detaining 777 political prisoners, as verified by their findings.
The group noted that since January 8, only 143 of the 863 identified political prisoners had been released up to now.
“At 7 PM (Caracas), Foro Penal confirmed that 143 political prisoners have been released in Venezuela since January 8, 2026, following an announcement by the National Assembly president regarding significant releases,” it stated on social media.
In a video released Monday night, Alfredo Romero, president of Foro Penal, confirmed that 777 political prisoners are still behind bars, highlighting that there have been no new releases since Saturday.
“We’re still waiting for the complete release of political prisoners. When I say full release, I mean that even if some have been freed, they remain under restrictive conditions,” Romero added, explaining that those released face travel bans and in many cases, restrictions on speaking to the media.
At the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington on Tuesday morning, Maria Colina Machado, a prominent anti-socialist Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, criticized the regime for not freeing most political prisoners.
Machado emphasized the need for complete freedom for those released, urging the dismantling of the regime’s repressive structures and the closure of all torture facilities in the nation.
“The reality is that the regime is clearly manipulating the situation. They haven’t released most political prisoners, and it’s cruel to announce some releases without real action,” she stated.
“I’ve spoken to the families of prisoners who endure daily pain and torture while waiting for their loved ones outside repression centers,” she noted. “If the OAS has any purpose, it must address this. A total dismantling of this oppressive system is the only solution for the regime now in power.”
Recently, President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he had canceled a planned wave of attacks in Venezuela after a deal was reached for the release of a significant number of political prisoners.
However, the Venezuelan government has only released a fraction of the 863 recorded political prisoners, starting from January 8. Interestingly, some members of the socialist government are now claiming that these releases were not part of a deal with Trump but stem from a directive issued by President Nicolas Maduro shortly before he was detained by U.S. forces on January 3. Notably, the regime does not categorize those released or still imprisoned as “political prisoners.”
In a statement, Diosdado Cabello, a powerful figure in the regime, suggested that the people labeled as political prisoners by opposition groups are actually individuals who have caused harm to society for political reasons, differentiating them from what he deems true political prisoners.
Meanwhile, Delcy Rodríguez, the regime’s “acting president,” remarked that the recent releases followed an order from Maduro, although she refrained from labeling them as political prisoners.
Among those released so far are not only Venezuelan citizens but also individuals of dual nationality and foreigners, including Italians Alberto Trentini and Mario Bullo, who described their imprisonment as “worse than Alcatraz,” recalling nights spent on the floor among cockroaches for 14 months.
Camilo Pierre Castro, a 41-year-old French yoga instructor, spoke out after being unjustly detained from June to November 2025, asserting that he suffered sexual torture and other cruel treatments during his confinement.
In addition to sexual abuse, Castro detailed that he was given a mysterious substance while enduring severe physical and mental torture during his unjust detention in Rodeo I Prison.
He recounted being led under false pretenses, believing he was being “deported to the airport” when he was actually brought to Rodeo I. Once inside, fellow inmates told him, “Don’t worry, we are all innocent here. This is political detention; we were all kidnapped.”
Castro described the appalling conditions of the prison, revealing inhumane torture practices and instances of extreme neglect where prisoners were left handcuffed and hooded, suffering in the heat for hours.
Additionally, he claimed that the prison housed “gas chambers” in the basement, where staff would subject inmates to tear gas, and “peak rooms” for brutal assaults.
