Venezuela releases dozens of political prisoners as election calls grow

Foro Penal confirmed the release of Miguel Castillo Cedeño, who it said had been arbitrarily detained since June 2019.Also released was Frank Cabañas, who rights groups say had been held in prison for nine years after being linked to the death of a police officer. Foro Penal said he was the only suspect who remained detained, despite family members reporting that he was suffering health problems last year.Opposition and human rights groups have said Maduro's government used the detention of political prisoners to stamp out dissent and silence critics for years.Rodriguez has sought to frame her interim government as more permissive of political dissent while currying favour with the US. The prisoner release scheme was a key concession by her administration to the US.However, her decision to end the scheme attracted criticism from opposition and rights groups. Foro Penal said it was stopped with less than half of the nation's political prisoners released.Rodriguez's government continues to deny dissidents are jailed. It has cast the release of prisoners as a gesture of goodwill and reconciliation.X/Delcy RodriguezDelcy Rodríguez's meeting with Donald Trump in New York has brought renewed calls for elections in VenezuelaVenezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, a minister closely associated with Maduro's authoritarian rule, called the interim president's meeting with Trump "a great triumph of the diplomacy of peace".