More than 200 political prisoners in Venezuela launch hunger strike
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The hunger strike began on the night of Feb 20 at the Rodeo I prison on the outskirts of Caracas.
PHOTO: REUTERS
CARACAS - More than 200 Venezuelan political prisoners were on a hunger strike on Feb 22 to demand their release under a new amnesty law
The amnesty was approved by Venezuela’s Congress on Feb 19 as part of a wave of reforms encouraged by the United States after it ousted and captured former president Nicolas Maduro
The hunger strike began on the night of Feb 20 at the Rodeo I prison on the outskirts of Caracas.
Inmates complained they would not benefit from the law because it excludes cases involving the military, which are the most common ones at that facility.
“Approximately 214 people in total, including Venezuelans and foreigners, are on hunger strike,” said Ms Yalitza Garcia, mother-in-law of a prisoner named Nahuel Agustin Gallo.
Gallo, an Argentine police officer, is accused of terrorism, another category that is excluded.
“They decided on Friday to go on hunger strike because of the scope of the amnesty law, which excludes many of them,” said Ms Shakira Ibarreto, daughter of a policeman arrested in 2024.
On Feb 22, a team from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited the Rodeo I prison.
“This is the first time they have allowed us to approach that prison,” Mr Filippo Gatti, the ICRC’s health coordinator for Venezuela, told family members. “It’s a first step, and I think we’re on the right track.”
Not all the inmates at the prison were joining the hunger strike, the relatives said.
Amnesty law criticised
The amnesty law was engineered by interim leader Delcy Rodriguez under pressure from Washington after US commandos attacked Venezuela on Jan 3, snatched Maduro and his wife and took them to the US for trial on drug trafficking charges.
Opposition figures have criticised the new legislation, which appears to include carve-outs for some offences previously used by the authorities to target Maduro’s political opponents.
It explicitly does not apply to those prosecuted for “promoting” or “facilitating... armed or forceful actions” against Venezuela’s sovereignty by foreign actors.
Ms Rodriguez has levelled such accusations against opposition leader and Nobel peace laureate Maria Corina Machado, who hopes to return to Venezuela at some point from the US.
The law also excludes members of the security forces convicted of activities related to what the government considered terrorism.
But the amnesty extends to 11,000 political prisoners who, over nearly three decades, were paroled or placed under house arrest.
More than 1,500 political prisoners in Venezuela have already applied for amnesty under the Bill, the head of the country’s legislature said on Feb 21.
Hundreds of others had already been released
On Feb 22, a group of five people were released from Rodeo I, carrying release papers in their hands. They were greeted with applause.
“I’m out, I love you so much, my queen! I’m doing well,” Mr Robin Colina, one of the freed prisoners, said excitedly into a mobile phone.
Mr Armando Fusil, another released prisoner, told AFP: “Right now there are quite a few people on hunger strike because they want to get out.”
The 55-year-old police commissioner from the western state of Maracaibo said he was “arrested for no reason” in October 2024.
He said loved ones came to visit him every Friday since his arrest, taking a nearly 40-hour trip just for a little bit of face time each week.
Now, they’re coming to pick him up for good.
“We all help each other,” Mr Fusil said about his fellow detainees. “It’s created a beautiful brotherhood.”
The non-governmental organisation Foro Penal, dedicated to the defence of political prisoners, reported 23 releases on Feb 22.
Maduro ruled Venezuela between March 2013 and January 2026, silencing opposition and activists under his harsh leftist rule.
Maduro and his wife are in US custody awaiting trial.
Maduro, 63, has pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges and declared that he is a prisoner of war. AFP
