Venezuela is undergoing a transition process, and the NGO Foro Penal has confirmed that since early January, 444 political prisoners have been released. However, the political and social landscape maintains focal points of conflict linked to the conditions of these releases, protests by relatives, and legislative hurdles. According to the president of the human rights organization, Alfredo Romero, the official count of releases covers the period from January 8, when the interim government announced the start of the process, until the night of February 15. Foro Penal emphasized a technical caveat in its registry: it does not consider full releases those cases where opponents leave penitentiaries but remain subject to house arrest. This is the situation faced by figures such as opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa and the coalition's legal advisor, Perkins Rocha. Meanwhile, the interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, who took office after the U.S. military incursion that resulted in the capture of Nicolás Maduro, is proceeding with the restructuring of the state. In recent hours, she officially abolished seven entities and programs linked to chavism, including the Center for Strategic Security and Protection of the Homeland (Cesppa), an intelligence body that had been repeatedly denounced for restricting access to public information. Last weekend, a dozen women, relatives of political prisoners, began a hunger strike outside a police command in Caracas. These extreme protest measures have already caused health imbalances and problems among the protesters, requiring medical assistance on site. The promise to release all detainees after the approval of a general amnesty law suffered a setback after the parliament, with a chavist majority, postponed the final vote for next week. The differences lie in a controversial article that would require the prosecuted to continue to appear before the Justice system.
