Overview
- Venezuela’s National Assembly approved the amnesty bill in a first reading and formed a special commission led by Jorge Arreaza, with Nicolás Maduro Guerra and Iris Varela, to conduct rapid public consultations before a second vote next week.
- The proposal covers cases from 1999 to 2026 and orders the termination of prosecutions, the end of coercive measures, the clearing of records, and the potential reversal of political disqualifications when no corruption is found.
- The bill explicitly excludes grave human-rights violations, crimes against humanity, war crimes, intentional homicide, major drug trafficking, and corruption, with case-by-case verification by courts.
- Assembly president Jorge Rodríguez told families outside Caracas’s Zona 7 facility that, if the law is approved in the second debate, all those deemed political prisoners would be released between Tuesday and Friday.
- Civil-society monitors report large gaps in counts, with Foro Penal verifying about 383 releases and listing 687 still detained, while officials claim roughly 895 freed, and NGOs and opposition groups press for a fully public text and safeguards for victims.