Machado & González: Venezuela Political Prisoner Release Concerns

Delcy Rodríguez affirms that oil revenues will go to the “restructuring of Venezuela‘s health system”

The president in charge of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, assured this Tuesday that the income from the sale of oil will be used for the recovery and restructuring of the country’s health system.

He made the announcement despite the United States’ warning that it will control the sale of crude oil for an “indefinite” period and that it will deposit the proceeds from these transactions in accounts managed by Washington.

In a brief speech broadcast on the state channel VTV, Rodríguez indicated that he is working on a special plan for the health area – affected by years of crisis – and that the first commitment is that every dollar that enters Venezuela from the oil and gas industry goes to meet the requirements of the health system.

In addition, he said that with this plan there are already 75 health centers that will be equipped with “revenues from oil.”

Díaz-Canel affirms that the US attack on Venezuela was “vile and criminal”

The president of Cuba, Miguel Diaz-Canelstated this Tuesday that the United States attack on Venezuela, which culminated in the capture of that country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, was “vile and criminal” and reaffirmed the “loyalty” of the island government towards Chavismo.

Díaz-Canel visited the South American embassy in Havana, where he signed the book of condolences for the 100 people – among them 32 Cuban soldiers – who died during the US military operation, as highlighted by the Cuban Presidency on social networks.

In the book, the island president maintained that “in the face of threats from the Yankee empire we ratify our loyalty to the legacy of our heroes, Fidel (Castro) and (Hugo) Chávez.

“We express our genuine and heartfelt condolences, and the revolutionary tribute to the women and men of Venezuela and to the 32 Cuban combatants who gave their lives in defense of Venezuela, in defense of Cuba, in defense of Latin America and the Caribbean,” he wrote.

EFE

González Urrutia’s daughter denounces the poor conditions of the prison where she believes her husband is

Mariana González, the daughter of Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia, denounced this Tuesday the lack of hygiene and conditions in the Rodeo I prison, in the state of Miranda (north, near Caracas), where her husband, Rafael Tudares, who was arrested in January 2025, is presumed to be.

Through her account on

Likewise, he continued, the cells do not have ventilation and are overcrowded and those who are there “must do their physiological needs in a hole or latrine inside the cell, located next to the cement bed.”

“In the same space where they sleep, where they bathe with rationed water, where they eat. Without privacy. Without hygiene. Breathing the same air loaded with waste, humidity and confinement,” said Mariana González.

EFE

The Venezuelan government says they have freed more than 400 political prisoners, although the opposition numbers only 76.

The president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, declared on Tuesday that more than 400 people had been released from prison.

However, NGOs and the opposition have been able to confirm much less. Specifically, the group led by María Corina Machado puts the number of releases at 76.

Trump affirms that he is “the biggest fan” of Venezuela

Donald Trump has assured that the US military intervention in Venezuela has been positive for both countries and has declared himself to be “Venezuela’s biggest fan.”

“We are going to be good for Venezuela and for our country. We are going to get thousands and thousands of barrels of oil. We are going to make Venezuela strong again,” he assured during his speech at the Detroit Economic Club.

Marco Rubio shows the Foreign Minister of Panama his interest in “promoting stability in Venezuela”

The Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubioreceived this Tuesday the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Panama, Javier Martínez-Achaat the headquarters of the State Department in Washington in a meeting that, in addition to discussing issues related to the two countries, was marked by the situation in Venezuela after the capture of Nicolás Maduro.

Rubio expressed his deep gratitude for Panama’s strong collaboration over the past year, highlighting the close cooperation that has promoted shared priorities in our region, according to the deputy spokesperson, Tommy Pigott.

The head of US diplomacy praised the measures adopted by Panama to guarantee the protection of critical infrastructure and “expressed his interest in greater cooperation in the ongoing regional efforts to promote stability in Venezuela”Pigott reported.

The Panamanian president, José Raúl Mulino, has celebrated the capture of Maduro on January 3 by US forces in Caracas and has asked that this lead to a democratic transition in Venezuela.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Panama also maintains “active and permanent diplomatic efforts” to achieve the release of Panamanian citizen Olmedo Javier Núñez Peñalba, detained in Venezuela since last June.

EFE

Venezuela releases Sofía Sahagún Ortiz

The Spanish-Venezuelan Sofia Sahagun Ortizwho had been imprisoned in a Venezuelan prison since October 2024, was released this Tuesday, as reported by the NGO Foro Penal and the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), which brings together the majority opposition in the country.

Sahagún has been released along with another group of between 56 and 76 political prisoners, five days after the president of Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, announced the release of “a significant number of people.”

The director of Foro Penal, Alfredo Romero, confirmed this Tuesday in X the release of Sofía Sahagún, who, he indicated, is already on her way to Madrid.

EFE

The NGO Foro Penal confirms that among those released there are 13 foreign citizens

At least 13 foreign and Venezuelan citizens with dual nationality have been released in Venezuelaaccording to information from NGOs and the majority opposition leadership, five days after the announcement by the President of Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, about the release of “a significant number” of detainees.

The director of the NGO Foro Penal, Alfredo Romero, announced this Wednesday the release of Sofía Sahagún, with dual Spanish and Venezuelan nationality, who, he indicated, would be on her way to Madrid.

Sahagún is the most recent release among those detained with another nationality. According to the report from the Penal Forum, an organization that leads the defense of political prisoners, as of Monday at 2:30 p.m. local time (6:30 p.m. GMT) there were already 12 foreigners released from prison.

Venezuelans in the US denounce the “deception” regarding the release of political prisoners

The Venezuelan diaspora in the United States denounced this Tuesday “maneuvers of simulation or deception” of the Government of the president in charge of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, considering that the releases of political prisoners have been “symbolic” until now and persecution persists.

The Multicultural Association of Voice and Expression Activists (Amavex), which brings together Venezuelans in Florida, condemned in a statement “any attempt by the Venezuelan regime to project a false image of pacification before the international community.”

“We do not accept selective or symbolic releases while the whereabouts and integrity of hundreds of people continue to be at risk. Justice is neither negotiable nor fragmentable. Human rights are not administered as political concessions,” said the citizen organization.

The Venezuelan opposition confirms 76 releases of political prisoners compared to the 116 that the government says

The Democratic Unitary Platform led by the Venezuelan opposition María Corina Machado has assured this Tuesday that they are 76 “political prisoners” who have been released, in contrast to the 116 that the Government of Venezuela has mentioned.

“This is the updated number of released political prisoners that we have confirmed,” the opposition alliance said in a message on social networks, from where they demand that the Venezuelan authorities accelerate the releases “so that the suffering of political prisoners and their families finally ends.”

The message is accompanied by a record of the names of these 76 people, five days after the Venezuelan authorities began to launch a large-scale release process in order to lower morale, but which the United States assures is responding to its threats of a new bombing.

Europa Press

ERC, Comuns and the CUP call for a demonstration in Barcelona against the US attack on Venezuela

ERC, Comuns and the CUP, as well as various social entities and unions, have called this Tuesday to demonstrate in Barcelona next Saturday, January 17 in the afternoon in solidarity with Venezuela and against the “military aggression of North American imperialism.”

This is stated in the manifesto “In defense of the sovereignty of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, no to the imperialist aggression of the United States in Latin America”, presented in Barcelona and to which, among others, Arran, a youth organization linked to the CUP, has joined; the CCOO unions of Catalonia and UGT; the Sindicat de Llogateres and the Esquerra Unida i Alternativa (EUiA) party.

“We demand the immediate freedom of the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife and deputy in the National Assembly, Cilia Flores“says the text, which warns that the United States intervention on January 3 “violates international legality and the Charter of the United Nations.”

Thus, he demands to “take to international courts” the US president, Donald Trump, “mainly responsible for the kidnapping” of the Venezuelan president, and encourages citizens to “demand” the Spanish Government to adopt “effective measures of solidarity” with Venezuela.

EFE

Machado and Urrutia denounce the non-compliance with the announcement of the releases

Venezuelan opposition leaders María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia denounced this Tuesday that “the mass release of prisoners” announced by the Venezuelan regime five days ago “is not being carried out in the announced terms.”

The official spokesperson for the two exiled Venezuelan politicians stated in a statement that “the figure of 116 released from prison, released by the regime on Monday, January 12, does not correspond to reality,” since, “human rights organizations have only been able to verify that of 56 people” so far.

EFE

Venezuela begins to reopen wells to recover crude oil production

Venezuela’s state oil company has begun reopening some of the wells it and its joint venture partners had closed amid a strict U.S. embargo, while crude exports resume with two shipments that departed on Monday, three sources close to the operations said. The OPEC member country’s oil exports had been virtually paralyzed since December, with only the US-based Chevron exporting crude from its joint ventures under US authorization, leaving millions of barrels stuck in tanks and grounded ships.

Reuters

TotalEnergies evaluates returning to Venezuela, but first demands a “clear framework” to invest

The executive director of the French oil giant TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanné, stated this Tuesday from Abu Dhabi that he is “evaluating” options to return to Venezuela, although a “clear framework is first needed to be able to invest.” “I know people want to invest quickly, but I understand that a clear framework will be required to be able to invest and it will take time,” he said during a session at the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) summit, the first energy event of 2026 organized by Emirati renewable company Masdar. When asked if the opportunity to return to the South American country appeals to him, he said that they will study it, since “they are always evaluating,” although he stressed that they were “forced” to leave a few years ago because “the security conditions were not met.”

EFE

Vox hopes that Albares “asks for forgiveness” for the “complicity” of the PSOE with “the tyranny of Maduro”

The spokesperson for Vox in Congress, Pepa Millán, commented this Tuesday that if the Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, does not come to this Chamber to “ask for forgiveness, at least for the complicity that the PSOE has maintained to this day with the tyranny of Maduro, we do not know very well what it is about.” This was stated by Millán in a press conference from the Lower House, where he recalled that on Thursday Albares will appear in Congress to give an account of Spain’s position regarding Venezuela, but “the reality is that we already know, we have been knowing very well for many years what the position of the PSOE and its partners regarding Maduro has been and is.”

Servimedia

Meloni receives the two Italians released from prison in Venezuela at the Rome airport

The Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, received this Tuesday at the Ciampino airport, in Rome, the two Italian citizens released from prison in Venezuela, the aid worker Alberto Trentini and the businessman Mario Burlò. Meloni, accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy, Antonio Tajani, greeted her compatriots in a room at the airport, while previously at the foot of the steps of the State flight sent by the Italian Government were Trentini’s mother and Burlò’s wife and daughter. The Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, celebrated on Monday the release of Trentini and Burlò, who had been imprisoned in Caracas since the end of 2024, in a video message in which she stressed that the release of these two Italians is the result of “discreet but effective” work carried out by the Italian Executive, the diplomatic network and the intelligence services.

EFE

Albares announces the release of three other Spanish prisoners in Venezuela

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, announced this Tuesday the release of three other Spanish citizens who were imprisoned in prisons in Venezuela. In statements to Catalunya Ràdio, Albares indicated that these “three new releases” took place yesterday, Monday, and they join the group of five Spanish prisoners previously released and who “are already in Spain.” Of the three newly released, the minister detailed, one “has decided to stay in Venezuela”, another citizen “will leave today” for Spain, while the third person “is thinking about whether he prefers to stay in Venezuela or return to Spain.”

EFE

Peru rules out a humanitarian corridor for Venezuelan migrants proposed by the Chilean far-right Kast

The acting president of Peru, José Jeríhas rejected this Monday the proposal put forward by the elected president of Chile, the far-right José Antonio Kastwhich included the implementation of a humanitarian corridor to facilitate the return of Venezuelan migrants to their country of origin. “I cannot allow migrants to enter our country irregularly,” Jerí stressed in an interview with CNN, in which he stated that “the problem” of Peru “What is triggered by the issue of insecurity is precisely irregular migration,” since, according to him, “practices come that have contaminated our country.”

Along the way, he has indicated that His Government will study with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs “what method” to use “to be able to provide the facilities to the irregulars so that they can return to his country.” Of course, this would happen once “the democratic order in Venezuela is recovered and the will also exists” on the part of the Venezuelans residing in Peru. Jerí’s statements come a day after, also on CNN, “agreed” with the US military incursion to capture the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, in Venezuelan territory and transfer him to the North American country, where he has remained detained since then along with his wife, the first lady, Cilia Flores. However, he called for a democratic process in Venezuela.

Europa Press

The judge of the Southern District of New York refuses to incorporate a lawyer to Maduro’s legal team

US federal judge Alvin Hellerstein, in charge of the case against Nicolás Madurohas refused this Monday to incorporate lawyer Bruce Fein to the defense of the Venezuelan president, who remains imprisoned in New York, since he was captured on January 3 along with his wife, Cilia Flores, in an attack by the United States Army in Caracas. This is stated in a letter from the magistrate published on social networks in response to a request for Fein that “has no legal basis”, as the judge has considered.

“Fein bases his request on information received from anonymous people who, he claims in an unsworn response, are credible and belong to Maduro’s inner circle or family“, points out the magistrate in an order that states that “anonymous people cannot appoint lawyers; only the accused can do it.” In the end, Hellerstein has not seen sufficient motivation to take the Venezuelan leader before the “court to ask him behind closed doors if he wishes to add Fein to his defense team, as requested” by the lawyer.

“If Maduro wants to hire Fein, he can do so. Fein cannot name himself to represent Maduro,” the judge ruled, after Fein, former undersecretary of the Department of Justice during Ronald Reagan’s mandate, requested to participate in the legal team of the deposed president of Venezuela. The main objection to Fein’s incorporation has come from the renowned criminal lawyer Barry Pollack, hired by Maduro as his defense lawyer and who last week asked Judge Hellerstein to deny Fein’s request, alleging that his client claimed not to know him or to have authorized him to act on his behalf.

Europa Press

Cuba will repatriate this Thursday the bodies of its 32 nationals killed in the US attack against Venezuela

He Cuban Government has announced that will repatriate this Thursday the mortal remains of the 32 deceased “combatants” in the attack carried out more than a week ago by the United States Army on Caracas and surrounding areas and which allowed the capture of the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores. “This Thursday, January 15, 2026 The mortal remains of the 32 fallen combatants will arrive in the country heroically during the criminal attack perpetrated by the United States Government against the sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” the Cuban Presidency has stated on its account on the social network X.

Upon arrival of the bodies at the José Martí International Airport in Havana, a “first posthumous tribute“to the victims of what the Cuban Executive has called a “criminal act of terrorism” by Washington. The bodies will later be transferred to the headquarters of the “Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces”, where they will be exposed so that “the people will be able to honor them” both outside and inside the public body.

The Presidency has also called on Havana residents to meet on Friday at “the José Martí Anti-imperialist Tribune” to hold a march before the bodies are cremated in “the pantheons of those who fell for the Defense” of their respective localities, although in “all” the municipalities of the island acts of tribute to the “combatants” will be held.

Members of the Cuban security forces killed during the US attack on Venezuela include 20 “fighters of the Ministry of the Interior” —among them two colonels, a lieutenant and four majors—, as well as twelve “fighters of the Revolutionary Armed Forces” —among them a captain, a first non-commissioned officer and a senior non-commissioned officer—. The president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, has highlighted that these “did their duty with dignity and fell, after fierce resistance, in direct combat against the attackers or as a result of the bombing of the facilities and knew how to raise, with their heroic action, the feeling of solidarity of millions of compatriots.”

Europa Press

Impatience marks the 5th night of vigil for the release of more political prisoners in Venezuela

Los relatives of political prisoners in Venezuela have fulfilled this Monday, between faith and impatience, the fifth night of waiting of new releases as part of the process of releasing a “significant number” of people announced last Thursday by the authorities. Among those released is the Spaniard Alejandro González de Canales, as laSexta learned, in addition to 23 others released from prison in the last few hours.

However, the relatives of the detainees denounce that, for the moment, There are “very few” who have left and they insist that “everyone” must be released. Since Thursday, more than fifty have been released, according to non-governmental and opposition organizations, while The Government assures that 116 people were released. Meanwhile, dozens of relatives gathered outside the El Rodeo I prison, in an area near Caracas, where Aurora Silva, wife of former opposition deputy Freddy Superlano, who is held in that facility, assured EFE that there are “impatience and discontent”, but also “hope” that they will be “released very soon.

“We hope that in the next few hours, in the next few days, the total releases of all political prisonersbecause there are really very few who have been released so far,” he said. The NGO Foro Penal, which until this Sunday counted just over 800 political prisoners, confirmed until 9:15 p.m. this Monday (01:15 GMT on Tuesday) the release of 56 peoplewhile the largest opposition coalition, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), registered a total of 73 as of 9:10 p.m. local time (01:10 GMT on Tuesday).

EFE

Delcy Rodríguez receives the diplomatic missions of the EU, United Kingdom and Switzerland in Caracas

He Government of Venezuelaled by the acting president, Delcy Rodríguezhas shown his willingness to “advance in a new agenda” with the European Union, the United Kingdom and Switzerlandin a meeting held this Monday in Caracas with his mission leaders in the Latin American country. “Within the framework of respect, within the framework of the equality of states, we are willing to advance a new agenda, an intense agenda of work for the well-being of both peoples“, declared the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Yván Gil, who was present at the meeting held at the Miraflores Palace, the headquarters of the Presidency of Venezuela.

The meetingdescribed as “frank and cordial” for Caracas, it has also had the participation of the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez; and the Minister of the Interior, Diosdado Cabello, and it has addressed “the state of bilateral ties with the objective of strengthen cooperation in strategic sectors such as energy, education, science and pharmaceutical industry.

The Venezuelan diplomatic portfolio, which has framed the meeting in the “new stage of relations that is opening (…) and that pursues advance productive and cooperative dialogue (…) for the common well-being”, he took advantage of the meeting to denounce before foreign representatives “the violations of sovereignty and International Law which culminated in the kidnapping of the constitutional president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, on January 3, in the attack carried out by the United States.

This same Monday, the Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, declared at a press conference that he intends to “raise the level of representation [en Venezuela]which until now has fallen to the chargé d’affaires, to the rank of ambassador“, an announcement made after the release of several Italian prisoners by Caracas.

Europa Press