Venezuela Releases 99 Detainees from 2024 Election Protests Amid Criticism
On Christmas Day, 25 December 2025, Venezuela announced the release of 99 detainees held for their involvement in protests following the 28 July 2024 elections. The government described this as the largest political-prisoner release of the year and framed it as evidence of peace and respect for human rights despite ongoing tensions characterized as US aggression.
The released individuals had been detained for acts of violence and incitement to hatred after the electoral process. However, civil society groups criticized the move as selective and insufficient, estimating that around 900 to 1,000 political prisoners remain in detention. Prominent opposition figures were not among those freed; María Corina Machado remains in exile, Edmundo González Urrutia is in Spain, and 17-year-old Gabriel José Rodríguez Méndez, convicted of terrorism, was also not released.
Those freed are reportedly under conditional liberty, including travel bans, regular court appearances, and restrictions on contact with the media. Independent verification of the exact number of detainees released is unclear, with some groups suggesting that 99 may be either an over- or under-count and the actual figure could be lower.
