Venezuela’s National Assembly passed an amnesty law Thursday that could release hundreds of political prisoners jailed over 27 years of authoritarian rule. The first man freed called it a “flawed document.”
Former National Assembly vice president Juan Pablo Guanipa walked out of detention hours after the vote and immediately attacked the legislation that released him. The law covers political crimes dating back to 1999 — the start of Hugo Chávez’s presidency — through the present, including the mass arrests following Maduro’s disputed 2024 reelection. It passed unanimously.
The catch sits in Article 9. The law excludes anyone “prosecuted or convicted for promoting, instigating, soliciting, invoking, favoring, facilitating, financing or participating in armed actions or the use of force” against Venezuela “by foreign states, corporations or individuals.”
That language is aimed directly at opposition leaders like Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, whom the ruling party has accused of supporting the U.S. military operation that removed Nicolás Maduro on January 3. It could also exclude activists who publicly backed American intervention or called for international pressure against the regime.
Interim President Delcy Rodríguez proposed the law under pressure from Washington. She assumed power after U.S. forces captured Maduro and has since aligned with Trump administration demands — opening Venezuela’s oil sector to American companies and releasing hundreds of detainees classified by human rights groups as political prisoners. The government has always denied holding political prisoners.
The law requires those abroad to appear in person in Venezuela to receive amnesty, though they may appoint a lawyer to file the initial request. It covers only people who have “ceased the execution of the actions which constitute crimes” — excluding many who continued their activism from exile.
Rights groups offered measured reactions. Foro Penal vice-president Gonzalo Himiob acknowledged the law’s limitations but framed them as incomplete rather than terminal. UN human rights experts in Geneva called for the law to expressly exclude those accused of serious human rights violations — a warning aimed at preventing amnesty from shielding Chavista officials responsible for repression.
Outside the Zona 7 police facility in Caracas, family members of detainees completed a fifth day of hunger strike. By Thursday evening, only one remained.
Sources: Reuters, February 20, 2026; CNN, February 19, 2026; Euronews, February 20, 2026; AFP via TRT World, February 20, 2026.
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