Venezuelan opposition leader freed after 8 months in prison

Venezuela’s government has released several prominent opposition members from prison, including one of the closest allies of Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado

Shop

Interest Successfully AddedWe'll notify you here with news aboutTurn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? OffOn

Stream on

Venezuelan opposition leader freed after 8 months in prison

Guanipa is one of opposition powerhouse María Corina Machado's closest allies.

ByREGINA GARCIA CANO Associated PressFebruary 8, 2026, 1:15 PM

1:35Opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa rides on the back of a motorcycle after his release from prison in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026.(AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)The Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuela’s government on Sunday released from prison several prominent opposition members, including one of the closest allies of Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado, after lengthy politically motivated detentions.

Their releases come as the government of acting President Delcy Rodríguez faces mounting pressure to free hundreds of people whose detentions months or years ago have been linked to their political beliefs. They also follow a visit to Venezuela of representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Rodríguez was sworn in as Venezuela’s acting president after the Jan. 3 capture in Caracas of then-President Nicolás Maduro by the U.S. military. Her government began releasing prisoners days later.

“I am convinced that our country has completely changed,” Juan Pablo Guanipa, a Machado ally and former governor, told reporters hours after his release. “I am convinced that it is now up to all of us to focus on building a free and democratic country."

Guanipa, who spent more than eight months in custody, was released from a detention facility in the capital, Caracas. An armored vehicle and officers appeared behind him in the video he released.

Venezuelan-based prisoners’ rights group Foro Penal confirmed the release of at least 30 people on Sunday.

In addition to Guanipa, Machado’s political organization said several of its members were among the released, including María Oropeza, who livestreamed her arrest by military intelligence officers as they broke into her home with a crowbar. Machado's attorney, Perkins Rocha, was also freed.

“Let’s go for the freedom of Venezuela!” Machado posted on X.

Guanipa was detained in late May and accused by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello of participating in an alleged “terrorist group” plotting to boycott that month's legislative election. Guanipa's brother Tomás rejected the accusation, and said that the arrest was meant to crack down on dissent.

“Thinking differently cannot be criminalized in Venezuela, and today, Juan Pablo Guanipa is a prisoner of conscience of this regime,” Tomás Guanipa said after the arrest. “He has the right to think as he thinks, the right to defend his ideas, and the right to be treated under a constitution that is not being enforced today.”

Her government announced on Jan. 8 it would free a significant number of prisoners — a central demand of the country’s opposition and human rights organizations with backing from the United States — but families and rights watchdogs have criticized authorities for the slow pace of the releases.

Trump says he didn't see full racist video, says he won't apologize

Feb 6, 10:09 PM

Trump admin declines judge’s request to return deported college student

Feb 6, 8:26 PM

Minneapolis live updates: ICE arrest powers expanded, memo says

Jan 31, 5:23 PM

The ruling party-controlled National Assembly this week began debating an amnesty bill that could lead to the release of hundreds of prisoners. The opposition and nongovernmental organizations have reacted with cautious optimism as well as with suggestions and demands for more information on the contents of the proposal.

National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez on Friday posted a video on Instagram showing him outside a detention center in Caracas and saying that “everyone” would be released no later than next week, once the amnesty bill is approved.

Delcy Rodríguez and Volker Türk, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, spoke by phone in late January. His spokesperson, Ravina Shamdasani, in a statement said he “offered our support to help Venezuela work on a roadmap for dialogue and reconciliation in which human rights should be at the centre" and then “deployed a team” to the South American country.

Machado remains in exile after leaving Venezuela in December. After she was briefly detained in January 2025, she had not been seen in public for 11 months when she appeared in Norway after the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.

Guanipa on Sunday said Machado “exercises undeniable leadership” and is needed in Venezuela along with other exiled political leaders to move the country forward.

___

Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.