Venezuela's acting president vows to continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro

Venezuela's acting president vows to continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez vows to continue releasing prisoners detained under former President Nicolás Maduro CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez said Wednesday her government would continue releasing prisoners detained under former President Nicolás Maduro's rule in what she described as “a new political moment” since his ouster by the United States earlier this month. It appeared to be an understatement for the Maduro loyalist now tasked with placating an unpredictable American president who has said he will “run” Venezuela , while also consolidating power in a government that long has seethed against U.S. meddling. Rodríguez opened her first press briefing since Maduro's capture by U.S. forces with a conciliatory tone. Addressing journalists from a red carpet at the presidential palace in the capital, Caracas, she offered assurances that the process of releasing detainees - a move reportedly made at the behest of the Trump administration - “has not yet concluded.” The lawyer and veteran politician pitched a “Venezuela that opens itself to a new political moment, that allows for ... political and ideological diversity.” A Venezuelan human rights organization estimates about 800 political prisoners are still being detained. That figure includes political leaders, soldiers, lawyers and members of civil society. President Donald Trump said Wednesday he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was seized and flown to the U.S. on Jan. 3 to face drug-trafficking charges. “We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump said during a bill signing in the Oval Office. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.” Unlike past speeches directed at her domestic audience that echoed Maduro’s anti-imperialist rhetoric, Rodríguez did not mention the U.S. - or the dizzying pace at which relations between both countries were evolving. But she criticized organizations that advocate on behalf of prisoners’ rights. She pledged “strict” enforcement of the law and credited Maduro with starting the prisoner releases as a signal that her government meant no wholesale break from the past. “Crimes related to the constitutional order are being evaluated,” she said, in apparent reference to detainees held on what human rights groups say are politically motivated charges. “Messages of hatred, intolerance, acts of violence will not be permitted.” Flanked by her brother and National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez, as well as hard-line Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, she took no questions. Cabello, she said, was coordinating the prisoner releases, which have drawn criticism for being too slow and secretive. Trump has enlisted Rodríguez to help secure U.S. control over Venezuela’s oil sales despite sanctioning her for human rights violations during his first term. To ensure she does his bidding, earlier this month, Trump threatened Rodríguez with a “situation probably worse than Maduro,” who is being held in a Brooklyn jail. Maduro has pleaded not guilty to drug-related charges. In endorsing Rodríguez, who served as Maduro’s vice president since 2018, Trump has sidelined...

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