The U.S. Embassy for Venezuela also announced Friday that all American citizens detained in Venezuela have been released.
Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez on Friday announced an amnesty bill that could lead to the release of hundreds of prisoners, including opposition leaders, journalists and human rights activists detained for political reasons.
The measure had long been sought by the United States-backed opposition. It is the latest concession Rodríguez has made since taking the reins of the country on Jan. 3 after the brazen seizure of then-President Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. military attack in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas.
Rodríguez told a gathering of justices, magistrates, ministers, military brass and other government leaders that the ruling party-controlled National Assembly would take up the bill with urgency.
«May this law serve to heal the wounds left by the political confrontation fueled by violence and extremism», she added in the pretaped televised event. «May it serve to redirect justice in our country, and may it serve to redirect coexistence among Venezuelans.»
This comes as the U.S. Embassy for Venezuela also announced Friday that all American citizens detained in Venezuela have been released.
«We are pleased to confirm the release by the interim authorities of all known U.S. citizens held in Venezuela», the embassy said in a social media post. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reposted the news on his personal X account.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many people were released. CBS News has reached out to the State Department.
Earlier this month, a hostage advocate familiar with the situation had told CBS News that at least four Americans were still detained in Venezuela.
In July, 10 Americans were freed from Venezuela as part of a prisoner swap involving the U.S. and El Salvador. The Americans were freed in exchange for El Salvador returning 252 Venezuelans who were deported from the U.S. to El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT.
The U.S. does not physically operate an embassy in Venezuela, after it shuttered its embassy in Caracas in 2019 amid mass protests and political unrest. Since then, it has operated its consular services out of Bogota, Colombia.
