National Assembly chief Jorge Rodriguez said on Tuesday that approximately 300 prisoners would be freed between Monday and Friday, including minors, elderly detainees and individuals suffering from medical conditions.

“Between yesterday and this Friday, 300 people will be released,” Rodriguez said, adding that some detainees had been convicted of criminal offenses while others qualified for humanitarian relief measures.
The releases form part of a broader amnesty law adopted in February, one of the most significant political reforms enacted since Rodriguez assumed interim leadership under mounting international and domestic pressure.

Venezuela has already released hundreds of detainees since US forces captured Maduro during a raid in Caracas on Jan. 3, an operation that dramatically altered the country’s political landscape.
Among those freed this week were three former police officers imprisoned since 2003 for their alleged involvement in the brief 2002 overthrow attempt against former president Hugo Chavez.

Rights organization Foro Penal said the officers “never should have been behind bars,” while also reporting that nearly 800 detainees had been released since January, including 186 under the formal amnesty framework.

The interior ministry has presented higher figures, stating that more than 8,000 individuals have benefited from the initiative through prison releases, parole measures and other legal mechanisms.
Rodriguez said authorities were extending relief measures beyond the requirements of the amnesty legislation.

“We are going beyond the amnesty law by carrying out a process of granting benefits to these people,” he said.

Human rights groups continue to raise concerns about detention conditions and political repression in Venezuela. Foro Penal says more than 400 political prisoners remain incarcerated.

The latest releases came days after interim authorities ordered an investigation into the death in custody of political detainee Victor Hugo Quero Navas, whose case renewed scrutiny of Venezuela’s prison system.
According to Foro Penal, around 20 political prisoners have died in Venezuelan custody since 2014.

Former detainee Erasmo Bolivar, one of the released police officers, urged families of prisoners still in detention to remain hopeful.

“Stay strong, it is possible,” he said in a video released after leaving prison following more than two decades in custody.

Venezuela’s immigration authority said in a brief statement that Saab’s deportation was linked to ongoing criminal investigations in the United States, although officials did not explicitly confirm his destination. The statement referred to Saab solely as a Colombian citizen, an apparent acknowledgment of Venezuelan constitutional restrictions prohibiting the extradition of Venezuelan nationals.

Saab, 54, was previously released and returned to Venezuela in 2023 after former U.S. President Joe Biden granted him clemency as part of a prisoner exchange between Washington and Caracas.The businessman had long been regarded by U.S. authorities as a key financial operator for Maduro’s government, helping manage overseas commercial networks and sanctions-sensitive transactions.

Maduro’s administration had described Saab as a diplomat carrying out humanitarian missions when he was detained during a 2020 refueling stop in Cape Verde while traveling to Iran.The latest move follows major political upheaval in Venezuela after Maduro’s removal from power earlier this year and the emergence of acting President Delcy Rodriguez as the country’s interim leader.

According to reports, Rodríguez removed Saab from his government positions after assuming office on Jan. 3, stripping him of influence over foreign investment channels tied to the Venezuelan state. Unconfirmed reports in recent months suggested Saab had been under detention or restricted movement inside Venezuela.

The Associated Press reported in February that U.S. federal prosecutors had intensified scrutiny of Saab’s alleged role in a bribery scheme linked to Venezuelan food import contracts under the government’s CLAP distribution program.The investigation reportedly stems from a 2021 U.S. Justice Department case involving Saab associate Alvaro Pulido.

Prosecutors in Miami have examined allegations surrounding contracts tied to the CLAP system, which was created to distribute subsidized food staples to Venezuelans during years of economic collapse, hyperinflation and shortages.

U.S. authorities have alleged that Saab accumulated substantial wealth through government-linked contracts and opaque financial arrangements connected to Venezuela’s state apparatus.The U.S. Justice Department did not immediately comment on Saturday’s deportation announcement.