After several weeks of intensive negotiations, the Czech Jan Darmovzal imprisoned in Venezuela was released. Foreign Minister Petr Macinka (Motorists) and Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) announced this at an extraordinary press conference in the Chamber. According to Macinka, the Czech citizen was released on Friday around 04:00 CET and is in a fairly satisfactory state of health in Caracas. The Czech Republic is sending a plane for him to the South American country.
According to Macinka, Čech was released with a group of other prisoners from Ireland, Romania, Germany, Albania, Ukraine and the Netherlands. “We’re sending a plane there that’s already in the air,” he announced. According to Macinka, Darmovzal has already been on the phone with his family and is in a fairly satisfactory health and mental condition. There is a doctor and a psychologist on board the Czech plane. According to Macinka, Darmovzal should return to the country within a few days.
The father of the imprisoned Czech, Oldřich Darmovzal, said that he does not yet know when his son will arrive in the Czech Republic. The family has information about the release, Macinka called them. “After those days of great tension, it’s a big relief for us. Since their (Venezuelan) president of the parliament announced that they were going to lay off, it took a long time. And the layoffs only happened in small groups. It was tension every day,” the man’s father described.
“The release of Jan Darmovzal, who was held in harsh conditions in a Venezuelan prison for almost a year and a half without reason, is great news that we have been waiting for for a long time,” commented the latest development on the X network, President Petr Pavel. He wished Darmovzal a happy return home and an early reunion with his family.
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Lipavský (for ODS) welcomed the release of Darmovzal and other people detained by the Venezuelan regime. “I believe that Jan Darmovzal will soon return home to the Czech Republic,” stated.
For the good news marked the release of Čech also former Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS). He thanked everyone who participated in his release. The head of the Senate, Miloš Vystrčil (ODS), made a similar statement. “Thank you to everyone who was responsible for the release, and great admiration and respect to the whole family for their togetherness, indomitability and patience,” he wrote.
Chairman of KDU-ČSL Marek Výborný he thanked to everyone who worked on the case, whether from the previous or the new government. “Today’s (Friday’s) unequivocally the most positive news. Mr. Darmovzal is returning from unjustified imprisonment in Venezuela. Thank you to all State Department employees who participated in this,” assessed Chairman of the Parliamentary Defense Committee Josef Flek (STAN).
Venezuelan authorities arrested Darmovzal in September 2024, alleging that he was plotting to kill the country’s authoritarian president, Nicolás Maduro, and overthrow the country’s government. Domestic diplomacy said such claims lacked any real basis. With a similar pretext, the Venezuelan authorities detained other foreign citizens. Czech citizen of the non-governmental organization Foro Penal she marked for a person detained for political purposes.
Venezuela’s government began releasing a larger number of political prisoners last week after the United States kidnapped Maduro from Caracas in early January and then threatened the new government with another military crackdown. Most of those released were Venezuelans, who, according to the EFE agency, have to comply with various court measures even when they are free – for example, they have to report to the authorities regularly, they are not allowed to leave their homeland or talk to the media.
“From December 25 to January 1, we have confirmed 117 released (political prisoners) and from January 8 another 84, so we can confirm a total of 201 released,” she told X Foro Penal. According to this organization, about eight hundred people are still behind bars in Venezuela for political opinions.
Interim President Delcy Rodríguez said on Wednesday that 406 people imprisoned for violating the constitutional order had been released from Venezuelan prisons since December, including 187 in December.
ČT editor: Negotiations with Venezuela were complicated
The Venezuelan authorities have never presented evidence, said Ondřej Nekola, the editor of the foreign editorial office of Czech Television, regarding Darmovzal’s case. The domestic Ministry of Foreign Affairs complained that the local authorities did not want to be in contact with our diplomacy. It was apparently a tactic to arrest a citizen of a foreign country and then demand something from that country, Nekola explained.
The Czech Republic wants diplomatic relations with Venezuela
The Czech Republic is ready to begin the restoration of diplomatic relations with Venezuela and to talk about having a permanent diplomatic presence in Caracas again, Macinka also said on Friday. Babiš added that after the changes in Venezuela, the government considers the territory very important for Czech exporters as well.
“We agreed together that the Czech Republic will be present in Venezuela and we will do everything to have our own representation there as quickly as possible,” said Babiš. The Czech Republic currently has neither an embassy nor a consulate in the country. The closest representation is in Colombia.
According to Macinka, the Czech Republic owns a building in Caracas. “It’s not in the best condition, because we haven’t been there in the years, so we have to find out first, but there’s definitely something to build on,” he says. According to him, domestic diplomacy signaled to interim Venezuelan President Rodríguez that it was ready to restore democratic relations.
Rodríguez became interim president after US commandos kidnapped authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro and his wife to the US during a military attack on Venezuela in early January. Washington now demands obedience from Rodríguez, who was vice president under Maduro, or threatens to strike again.
The Czech Republic closed its embassy in Venezuela at the end of January 2011. It was decided by the cabinet of Prime Minister Petr Nečas (ODS) at the time when Karel Schwarzenberg was foreign minister. At that time, the government also terminated the activities of embassies in Congo, Kenya, Yemen and Costa Rica for economic reasons. Since then, the country has been represented in Venezuela by the Czech ambassador to Colombia.
