The National Assembly of Venezuela unanimously approved this morning a general amnesty law for the political prisoners of the regime. This measure had already been announced by the president in charge of the country, Delcy Rodríguez. This was announced by Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly and brother of Delcy, who will now have to sign his signature for it to come into force.
The amnesty will affect prisoners involved in up to thirteen episodes of political and social upheaval experienced between 1999 and 2026, including the repression after fraud in the last elections whose victory Maduro claimed in the summer of 2024. Today he remains in a New York prison. Those prisoners who have participated in armed actions are excluded from this measure of grace, among them 174 soldiers accused of rebellion.
The president in charge of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, has been “pleased” by the amnesty law approved this Thursday unanimously in the National Assembly, which will allow the country to “coexist democratically and peacefully”, and has asked that cases not contemplated in the legal text be reviewed.
“As a legal professional, I feel very pleased (because) the amnesty law opens an extraordinary door for Venezuela to reunite, for Venezuela to learn to live together democratically and peacefully, for Venezuela to rid itself of hatred, of intolerance, for Human Rights, love, understanding, recognition to prevail,” she declared during the act of ratification of the law.
The president has defended these words also as “Chavista” president in charge, after which she stated that “you have to know how to ask for forgiveness and you have to know how to receive forgiveness.” “That is the process that opens with this amnesty law, but the amnesty law also goes further,” he added.
Exclusions
The deputies approved granting amnesty for acts or “mistakes committed” during different episodes of political crisis that occurred between 2002 and 2025, such as the coup d’état against the late President Hugo Chávez in April 2002, the oil strike at the end of that year and beginning of 2003 and the anti-government protests of 2013, 2017 and 2024.
However, the president in charge asked Parliament, the Coexistence and Peace program that promotes political dialogue and the judicial revolution commission that seeks to reform the justice system, to evaluate cases that are not contemplated in the approved law to “heal wounds, redirect democratic coexistence” and justice.
Article 9 of the new legislation excludes from the application of the amnesty crimes involving serious violations of human rights, crimes against humanity, intentional homicide, very serious injuries, drug trafficking, as well as crimes provided for in the anti-corruption law.
Likewise, it establishes the exclusion of people who are or may be prosecuted or convicted for “promoting, instigating, requesting, invoking, favoring, facilitating, financing or participating in armed or force actions against the people, sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Venezuela by “States, corporations or foreign persons.”
Article 11 indicates that a court with jurisdiction over the charged crime will verify the application of the amnesty and will decree the annulment of all ongoing processes or the review of final sentences for their annulment, within a period “that will not exceed 15 continuous days.”
The legislation also provides that persons benefited by this law who commit crimes after the entry into force of the amnesty will be prosecuted normally according to the legislation. The NGO Foro Penal counts 644 political prisoners in the country, after more than 400 releases in the midst of a process initiated on January 8 by the Government in charge.
