Venezuela’s interim President moves for mass amnesty

Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, has announced plans to introduce a sweeping amnesty law aimed at freeing political prisoners and ending decades of political violence in the country.

Rodriguez made the announcement on Friday while addressing the Venezuelan Supreme Court in Caracas, just weeks after the United States-backed removal of former president Nicolas Maduro.

According to her, the proposed law will grant “general amnesty covering the entire period of political violence from 1999 to the present,” a timeline that spans the rule of late president Hugo Chavez and his successor, Maduro.

“This law will serve to heal the wounds left by political confrontation fueled by violence and extremism. It will allow us to put justice back on track in our country,” Rodriguez said.

She also disclosed plans for a “major national consultation” aimed at overhauling Venezuela’s judicial system.

In another major move, the interim leader announced the closure of El Helicoide, the notorious Caracas prison long accused by rights groups of being a torture centre for political detainees under Maduro’s intelligence agencies.

Rodriguez said the facility, originally designed as a shopping complex, will be converted into a sports, cultural and commercial centre for police families and surrounding communities.

Venezuela’s opposition has reacted with cautious optimism, noting that several of Maduro’s allies still hold key positions in government.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado said the amnesty proposal was forced by pressure from Washington.

“This is not a voluntary gesture by the regime, but a response to pressure from the United States government,” she wrote on social media, expressing hope that prisoners would soon reunite with their families.

Opposition lawmaker Tomas Guanipa, whose two brothers remain in detention, said he hoped the amnesty would finally end years of repression.

“May this be the beginning of a path that leads us to freedom and democracy, definitively and forever,” he told AFP.

Meanwhile, US authorities confirmed on Friday that all Americans known to have been held in Venezuelan custody have now been released.