Venezuela's Interim Government Says It Freed 131 Political Prisoners as Rights Groups Verify Far Fewer

Venezuela's interim government said on Friday that it had freed 131 people held as political prisoners, granting them what it called alternative measures to incarceration under a Programme for Peace and Democratic Coexistence, Al Jazeera reported. The releases form part of transition talks that followed the removal of former President Nicolás Maduro by United States forces in January.

The count is disputed. The opposition movement Vente Venezuela said it had independently verified 43 releases, and the rights group Foro Penal said at least 40, having counted 391 political prisoners still held as of 10 August, according to the same reporting. The gap between the official figure and the verified figures is the central factual question, and the phrase "alternative measures" leaves open whether those freed face continuing restrictions.

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the releases a crucial step for national reconciliation, as reported in coverage of the announcement. Washington's endorsement matters because the sequencing of sanctions relief has been tied to political normalisation, and each verified concession strengthens the argument for further easing.

For energy markets, the political process determines whether production can resume. Venezuela holds very large proven reserves, but restoring output requires foreign operators to commit capital, and that capital depends on legal certainty and sanctions clarity rather than on geology. Prisoner releases are a signal to that audience as much as to a domestic one.