Overview
- The U.S. State Department welcomed the releases without specifying a number, while a source told CNN that four Americans were freed on Tuesday and another was quietly released on Monday.
- Interim officials presented the releases as a political de-escalation measure following the Jan. 3 U.S. operation that captured and deposed Nicolás Maduro.
- The government cited large totals—116 earlier in the week and later 400—figures that NGOs said lacked names or documentation and could not be verified.
- Foro Penal said it had confirmed 56 people freed for political reasons as of Tuesday and warned that many face conditional measures that leave them vulnerable to re-arrest.
- Non-U.S. nationals were also released, including Spanish-Venezuelan Sofía Sahagún Ortiz en route to Madrid, as Spain’s foreign ministry reported additional Spaniards freed.