Relatives of political prisoners embrace outside the Bolivarian National Police (PNB) Zona 7 prison in Caracas on February 19, 2026. YORMAN MALDONADO / AFP
Venezuela's National Assembly on Thursday, February 19, unanimously approved a long-awaited amnesty law that could free hundreds of political prisoners jailed for being government detractors. But the law excludes those who have been prosecuted or convicted of promoting military action against the country – which could include opposition leaders like Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, who has been accused by the ruling party of calling for international intervention like the one that ousted former president Nicolas Maduro.
The bill was signed by interim president Delcy Rodriguez, who pushed for the legislation under pressure from Washington, after she rose to power following Maduro's capture during a US military raid on January 3. "One must know how to ask for forgiveness and one must also know how to receive forgiveness," Rodriguez said at the Miraflores presidential palace in the capital Caracas, after signing the bill into law.
In one of the first releases after the bill passed, Machado ally and former National Assembly vice president Juan Pablo Guanipa announced his release from detention after about nine months in prison and under house arrest. "After 10 months in hiding and almost nine months of unjust imprisonment, I confirm that I am now completely free," Guanipa wrote on social media, posting an image of him holding the country's flag.
