Venezuelan courts are demanding U.S.-dollar cash payments to sign off documents for the release of political prisoners under the socialist regime’s new “Amnesty” law, relatives of the prisoners denounced on Tuesday.
The Venezuelan socialists, following the United States’ arrest of dictator Nicolás Maduro in January, began releasing hundreds of individuals that the regime unjustly kept as political prisoners as part of “acting President” Delcy Rodríguez’s collaboration with the administration of President Donald Trump to implement the U.S. government’s three-phase plan towards restoring democracy in Venezuela as outlined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
In response to late January calls from Rodríguez, the Venezuelan National Assembly — led by her brother Jorge Rodríguez — expeditiously approved an “Amnesty Law for Democratic Coexistence” on February 19 that Rodríguez claimed would allow Venezuela to “to rediscover itself and learn to live democratically and rid itself of hatred.” The law has been widely criticized by local politicians and activists as restrictive for not granting amnesty to all political prisoners, as the text limits its benefits to 13 specific moments in Venezuela’s 27 year-old political crisis, such as the April 2002 failed ouster of Hugo Chávez and the 2007, 2009, 2013, 2014, and 2017 wave of anti-regime protests, among others.
Venezuelan socialist lawmaker Jorge Arreaza, who forms part of a regime special amnesty law parliamentary commission, claimed this week that “5,628” individuals have been benefitted by the amnesty law, of which, according to him, “242” have been released over the past weeks while the remaining 5,383 were individuals subject to “alternative precautionary measures.”
Arreaza asserted that a total of “9,060” amnesty requests have been received by the commission as of March 2.
The Committee of Mothers in Defense of the Truth, a local non-government organization composed of relatives of Venezuelan political prisoners, denounced on Tuesday that Venezuelan courts with with jurisdiction over “terrorism” cases are demanding “reams of paper, boxes of pens, and payments in cash dollar payments” from relatives of political prisoners as a “condition” for the courts to issue court documents granting the release of political prisoners.
“This demand is an outrage that adds to the strain we have already endured during all the months our relatives were held in places far from our homes. During that time, we had to make enormous efforts to visit them and provide them with food and other basic necessities,” the group’s statement read in part. “It is unacceptable that now, when we can finally obtain some justice, we are subjected to this new abuse.”
“Most of us have spent days collecting money just to pay for the trip to Caracas, and we do not have the resources to cover illegal charges, nor do we consider it fair that they be imposed on us,” the statement continued.
The group, reportedly made up of relative of political prisoners detained in the aftermath of the sham July 2024 presidential election, emphasized that the court documents that they are being allegedly asked dollars for is essential for removing criminal records and police records related to the events covered by the amnesty law. The committed called upon the National Assembly’s special amnesty commission to verify its complaint and demanded that the courts fulfil their obligations without requiring additional payments from those seeking their rights.
“Justice is a constitutional right, not a commodity. The courts have an obligation to provide a copy of the amnesty decision at no cost,” the statement read.
Despite the complaint and allegations that the courts are demanding U.S. dollar cash payments for the important amnesty documents, the committee noted that the process has been “very swift,” explaining that members of the group have been filing amnesty applications since February 24 only to find out that the process was already underway.
“We were informed that we should return in 15 days to be notified of the decision and to collect a copy of it,” the group said.
The Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional reported in late February that anti-socialist Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado is among those excluded from receiving the socialist regime’s “amnesty” as Article 9 of the amnesty legislation states that persons who “are or may be prosecuted or convicted for promoting, instigating, soliciting, invoking, favoring, facilitating, financing, or participating in armed actions or acts of force against the people, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, by foreign states, corporations, or individuals” are barred from receiving amnesty. For years, the Venezuelan socialist regime has condemned Machado over her her support of U.S. and international human rights sanctions against the socialist regime.
Speaking to NBC News in February, “acting President” Delcy Rodríguez said that Machado would have to “answer to Venezuela” over her support of sanctions against the regime, calls for “international intervention” in Venezuela, and for “celebrating” the arrest of Nicolás Maduro. Machado announced this week that she plans to return to Venezuela “in a few weeks.” She once again thanked President Donald Trump for bringing Maduro to justice.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.