Venezuela says over 100 political prisoners released; pope meets Machado

Penitentiary Services Ministry says those freed had been ‘deprived of their liberty’ for acts associated with disrupting the constitutional order.Published On 12 Jan 2026At least 116 prisoners have been released in Venezuela after their arrests during the presidency of Nicolas Maduro, the government has announced, nine days after the United States abducted Maduro.Venezuela’s Ministry of Penitentiary Services reported on Monday that the prisoners had been released “in the past few hours”. It followed a similar release a few days ago.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Petro says Colombia cooperating with US ‘despite insults, threats’list 2 of 3Analysis: Why Venezuela’s military holds the key to country’s futurelist 3 of 3How Trump & Co sold the attack on Venezuelaend of listThe ministry added that those freed had been “deprived of their liberty for acts associated with disrupting the constitutional order and undermining the stability of the nation”.Two Italian citizens were also released, and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani pledged to upgrade Rome’s relations with Caracas in response.Dozens of dual Italian-Venezuelan nationals remain in prison.However, the Foro Penal group, a human rights organisation, contended earlier on Monday that only 41 people had been released, including 24 people freed overnight.The release of political prisoners in Venezuela has been a long-running call of human rights groups, international bodies and opposition figures.Human rights groups estimated there are 800 to 1,200 political prisoners in Venezuela.The releases, which began on Thursday, came after pressure by US President Donald Trump, who stated that Washington was “in charge” of the Latin American country following the military operation on January 3 to abduct Maduro, which sparked global protests and criticism.Maduro now faces drug-trafficking charges and is currently being held in a prison in New York.