Venezuelan government pardons more than 100 political opponents ahead of elections
The Venezuelan government has issued pardons to over 100 political opponents who had been imprisoned, fled into exile or taken refuge in foreign embassies, it announced on Monday.
The unexpected move comes ahead of parliamentary elections on December 6, which top opposition leader Juan Guaido has planned to boycott citing undemocratic conditions.
But the mass pardon could signal that sectors of the notoriously fractured opposition have agreed to participate. “It’s clear that the Maduro government doesn’t release political prisoners for free,” John Polga-Hecimovich, Latin America analyst at the US Naval Academy, told the Telegraph.
“This clearly would be in exchange for something else.” Of the 110 people pardoned, only 50 are currently jailed in Venezuela, according to local human rights group Penal Forum. The others listed are either holed up in foreign embassies in Caracas or living in exile.
The list included figures such as Freddy Guevara, an opposition leader who has been living in the Chilean embassy in Caracas since 2017, and Henry Ramos Allup, head of veteran opposition party Democratic Action.
But it excluded some of the most prominent opposition leaders, including Leopoldo Lopez and Julio Borges. Mr Lopez has lived in the Spanish embassy for over a year and Mr Borges lives in exile in Colombia.
Nor was there any pardon for Mr Guaido, the parliamentary leader who has been recognised by dozens of countries as Venezuela's legitimate president, and who has several outstanding judicial cases against him.
Mr Guaido insisted that Nicolas Maduro's government was using the pardons "as trading pieces" to "legitimise a farce," referring to the upcoming elections. "It is a trap and we are not going to fall for it," he wrote on Twitter, adding that "you cannot pardon those already innocent or who have immunity."
As the news of the pardons broke, dozens of family members gathered outside the infamous Helicoide prison in Caracas and other detention centres around the country waiting for their release.
“They’ve taken me away from my family,” Antonia Turbay told local outlet VPI-TV after being released, fighting back tears. Authorities arrested the 68 year-old in June of last year, accusing her of helping a neighbour - also considered a political prisoner - escape house arrest.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the measure would lead to some in exile returning to the country or others living in foreign embassies to leave the premises.
Some also rejected the very notion of a pardon, insisting they had done nothing to be pardoned for.
"Pardon or insult, Maduro is neither president, nor am I a criminal," Americo de Grazia, a parliamentarian who has been outspoken about government and military corruption, tweeted from exile.
“If you want peace in Venezuela, pardon the country from your usurpation of power.”
December’s parliamentary elections could mark a turning point in the opposition’s effort to oust Mr Maduro. Although the US has promised to continue recognising Mr Guaido as the country’s legitimate president, his term as head of the country’s parliament ends this year.
Since January 2019, Mr Guaido has claimed the presidency under an article of the country’s constitution that allows the leader of the parliament to serve as acting president when the presidency is vacant. Mr Guaido and the opposition claim that Mr Maduro’s 2018 reelection was fraudulent and nearly 60 countries, including the US and UK, have recognised him as acting president.
The United States also rejected the pardon as tokenistic on Tuesday.
"Restoring constitutional rights that were illegally taken away should not be applauded," the State Department said in a statement. "All of these prisoners should be released immediately and unconditionally."
