Venezuela says 116 political prisoners released

El Helicoide, top, the headquarters of Venezuela's intelligence service and detention center, stands in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, after National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said the government would release a significant number of Venezuelan and foreign prisoners. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Venezuela said Monday that 116 political prisoners have been released since the government announced last week it would begin freeing those jailed under president Nicolas Maduro, who was seized by US forces in a raid on Caracas.

The South American country’s opposition and rights groups however report lower figures. Relatives of detainees have been camped out near the gates of prisons awaiting word of their loved ones.

“These measures have benefited individuals deprived of liberty for acts related to disrupting the constitutional order and undermining the Nation’s stability,” the Ministry of the Penitentiary Service said in a statement announcing the releases to date.

Non-governmental organization Foro Penal reported that 24 people were freed early Monday, including two Italians, while Venezuela’s political opposition reported the release of a youth leader.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni took to X to thank Venezuela’s interim government led by Delcy Rodriguez, and welcome the release of the two Italian nationals, who she said “are now safe at the Italian Embassy in Caracas.

“I have spoken with them, and a plane has already left Rome to bring them home,” Meloni added.

Human rights groups estimate there are between 800 and 1,200 political prisoners in Venezuela.

The release of prisoners was announced last Thursday under pressure from President Donald Trump, who has claimed the United States is “in charge” of Venezuela after deposing Maduro and sending him to a New York prison to face drug-trafficking charges.

Over the weekend Trump celebrated the releases “in a big way,” and said he hoped the freed prisoners “will remember how lucky they got that the USA came along and did what had to be done.”