CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan authorities granted amnesty to 379 political prisoners, according to a lawmaker overseeing the process, after a new mass amnesty law was enacted following the ouster of former leader Nicolas Maduro.
Venezuela’s National Assembly unanimously adopted the law on Thursday, providing hope that hundreds of political prisoners behind bars may soon be released.
National Assembly deputy Jorge Arreaza said in a televised interview yesterday that a total of 379 people “must be released, granted amnesty, between tonight and tomorrow morning.”
“Requests have been submitted by the Public Prosecutor’s Office to the competent courts to grant amnesty measures,” he said.
Many relatives of prisoners across Venezuela have waited outside jails for weeks for the potential release of their loved ones.
Hundreds have already been granted conditional release by Interim President Delcy Rodriguez’s government since the deadly US raid that seized Maduro.
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