Rubio presses for release of 322 remaining Venezuelan political prisoners
The US Secretary of State met with Venezuela's foreign minister in Caracas to demand the freedom of detainees and outline a timeline for new elections.
By Zoe Harrison ·
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Oliver Blanco in Caracas on Monday to demand the release of the remaining political prisoners. The two officials also discussed reforms intended to prepare the country for free and fair elections, according to the US State Department.
The United States has pushed for the freedom of these detainees since US forces captured President Nicolás Maduro during a military raid on Caracas on January 3. Maduro was taken to New York, where he faces trial on drug-trafficking and torture charges.
More than 1,000 political prisoners have been freed since that raid. However, Venezuelan human rights group Foro Penal states that 322 individuals remain in detention. Many of these people were arrested following the disputed 2024 presidential election.
The National Electoral Council, which is dominated by government loyalists, declared Maduro the winner of that election. Opposition voting tallies and independent media reports suggested the opposition candidate had won. The Carter Center, which observed the vote, said the election could not be considered democratic.
A UN fact-finding mission found that the government orchestrated harsh repression against perceived political opponents in the months following the vote. After Maduro was seized, his Vice President Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in as interim president. She has the backing of the Trump administration, though opposition parties have expressed impatience with the slow pace of reforms.
Rubio told journalists a week before Monday's meeting that Venezuela's election infrastructure must be replaced for fresh elections to be valid. He said the change needs to happen quickly under established timelines, not in five or ten years. Rodriguez has since told voters in a televised address that elections will be held under a renewed electoral authority, but she did not provide a specific date.
Opposition leader María Corina Machado, who returned to Venezuela from exile on October 25, has pushed for a vote in 2027. Machado, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025, initially suggested July 24, 2027, as the date. She has since broadened that call to a vote sometime within the next year.
