Venezuelan Interior Minister — and long-suspected drug lord — Diosdado Cabello claimed Wednesday the nation’s socialist regime does not have political prisoners, but instead lucky criminals who are being given “another opportunity” by the regime.
Cabello, widely considered to be the Venezuelan regime’s most dangerous strongman and a man actively wanted by U.S. authorities on narco-terrorism charges, with a $25 million bounty — issued his claims on the latest episode of Con el Mazo Dando (“Hitting with the Mallet”), his infamous socialist propaganda show. Much like last week’s somber episode, where he called for “unity” among Venezuelan socialists, Wednesday’s episode did not feature a live audience unlike past broadcasts.
In the broadcast, Cabello claimed that “everyone wants to make a fuss” and “take credit for things that are not attributable to any of them.” Last week, President Donald Trump announced on a Truth Social post that he cancelled a second wave of attacks in Venezuela after the ruling socialists had agreed to release a “large number” of political prisoners. At press time, no large scale release of political prisoners has taken place in Venezuela; only a minimal number of releases have been confirmed in the days following President Trump’s announcement.
Cabello, who denied that the Venezuelan regime has political prisoners, claimed that the ongoing releases are allegedly part of a purported order issued by now-deposed dictator Nicolás Maduro in December to “review of cases of people who were detained for acts of violence, for attacking the Venezuelan people themselves” and that the men and women released this week are instead part of said process.
“What sectors of the opposition have called political prisoners are not really political prisoners. They are irresponsible people who do not care at all about harming people, institutions, or destroying the infrastructure of the state for political purposes. That is something else. But they are not political prisoners. Political prisoners have other characteristics,” Cabello said.
According to Cabello, “nearly 200” people were released between December 24 and December 31 as “ordered” by Maduro through the alleged efforts of the Venezuelan Justice Ministry, Supreme Court, and other institutions — all under the fierce control of the Venezuelan socialist regime, now led by “acting President” Delcy Rodríguez following the January 3, 2026 U.S. law enforcement action that saw the arrest of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
In total, according to Cabello, “more than 400” individuals have been released. He did not offer any documentation that could substantiate his claim.
“Now, that is a gracious concession. It is not an opportunity being given to these people who know that they attacked facilities, who know that they attacked institutions, who know that they caused damage, that even in some actions Venezuelans died,” Cabello said.
“Today, it is not those who got you into this mess who are giving you this opportunity in life, it is the Bolivarian Government. It is the state institutions that are functioning. You figure out what you do as a citizen,” he claimed in another part of the broadcast.
Cabello also reportedly claimed that socialist regime is “united as one solid block,” which he said is made up of “our people, our armed forces, it is our police forces.”
For years, Venezuelan and international human rights organizations have extensively documented and catalogued hundreds of cases of Venezuelan and foreign nationals who have been kept by the ruling socialists as political prisoners throughout the years.
As of the end of 2025, the Venezuelan non-government organization Foro Penal documented that there were 863 confirmed political prisoners unjustly detained across some of Venezuela’s most infamous prisons — including the Helicoide (“The Helix”), the regime’s largest and most infamous torture center.
Foro Penal announced on social media that, as of 08:30 p.m. (local time) on Wednesday, the organization had confirmed the release of only 84, most of which were Venezuelan nationals, with a minority being either foreigners or Venezuelans holding a dual citizenship. The organization shared a six-page list containing the names, nationalities, detention center, and time of detention of all 84 confirmed releases.
Hours before Cabello’s broadcast, “acting President” Rodríguez announced on Wednesday next to Cabello and her brother, National Assembly head Jorge Rodríguez, that the Venezuelan regime had allegedly carried out the release of “406” individuals but did not refer to them as political prisoners. Like Cabello, Rodríguez claimed that the releases were part of a purported order from Maduro — a claim she also repeated through social media shortly afterwards.
“We inform the country that we continue to evaluate cases and move forward with the process of releasing prisoners initiated by President Nicolás Maduro in 2025 to consolidate a new political moment that allows for coexistence, recognition, and respect among Venezuelans, in compliance with the law,” Rodríguez wrote.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.