While families celebrate the release on Christmas, they are also demanding full freedom for the detainees.
Published December 25, 2025
Human rights groups say Venezuelan authorities have released at least 60 people arrested during protests against President Nicolas Maduro’s re-election, but campaigners say hundreds remain behind bars.
Releases began early Thursday morning on Christmas Day, according to the Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners, a group of human rights defenders and relatives of detainees arrested in July’s post-election violence.
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“We celebrate the release of more than 60 Venezuelans who should not have been arbitrarily detained,” commission president Andreina Baduel told AFP news agency.
“They are not completely free, but we will continue to work for their and all political prisoners’ complete freedom.”
Maduro secured a third term in office in a July 2024 vote, but the result was rejected by some opposition parties amid allegations of fraud. The results were disputed, sparking weeks of demonstrations, and authorities arrested around 2,400 people. Rights groups say nearly 2,000 people have since been released.
Despite the latest releases, Venezuela still holds at least 902 political prisoners, according to Foro Penal, an NGO that monitors detentions.
Relatives said many of those freed were being held at the Tocolon prison, a maximum-security facility in Aragua state, about 80 miles (134 kilometers) from the capital, Caracas. Authorities have not publicly disclosed the conditions under which the detainees were released.
“We must not forget that there are more than 1,000 families of political prisoners,” Baduel said. Her father, Raul Isaias Baduel, a former defense minister and former ally of late President Hugo Chávez, died in custody in 2021.
