The Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), Venezuela’s main opposition coalition, stated this Sunday that The “immediate release of all political prisoners” is an “urgent” step before a possible transition. This after the capture of President Nicolás Maduro the day before amid attacks by US forces in Caracas.
In a publication in X, the majority opposition group stated that “there is no transition without reconciliation or national unity.” And achieving both “requires the release of political prisoners and the cessation of persecution against the political leadership“.
According to the NGO Foro Penal, until mid-December there were 900 political prisoners in Venezuela.
Unitary Platform on political prisoners
The Vente Venezuela (VV) party, led by opposition member María Corina Machado, called for several demonstrations in different Latin American cities for this Sunday with the aim of defend “popular sovereignty and national sovereignty.”
While Nicolás Maduro spent his first night in federal prison Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Centerin New York, after being captured in Caracas, where his vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, received the order from the Venezuelan Supreme Court to take over as president in charge of the country.
The Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) denounced this Sunday the murder “in cold blood” from Maduro’s security team. This during his capture, which the Venezuelan military calls “kidnapping.”
Likewise, the military body recognized the appointment of Rodríguez as acting president. And he supported the state of commotion decree that grants special powers to govern in cases of conflict.
The Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio, insisted this Sunday that Washington will manage the “direction” in which Venezuela will move. And he stated that he hopes that the new Venezuelan government, now led by the vice president and president in charge, “will take a different course than Maduro.”
