Venezuela’s interim government and the opposition agreed on Friday, Sept. 25, to work toward reforming the country’s Supreme Court, the first concrete step on judicial reform since Nicolás Maduro’s ouster, and rights groups said dozens of political prisoners were freed in the following hours, according to Al Jazeera and AFP.
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In a joint statement closing the second round of talks in Caracas, both sides said they had named a seven-member panel to review how candidates for the Supreme Court of Justice are selected and would keep examining the legislation needed to “transform” the judicial system. National Assembly chief Jorge Rodríguez led the government side, while Dinorah Figuera, who led the opposition bloc that won Venezuela’s last internationally recognized election in 2015, headed the opposition delegation.
Venezuela Supreme Court Reform Panel Named
The agreement builds on an initial round in August, when the two sides pledged to overhaul the judiciary and work to recover Venezuelan assets frozen by the Bank of England. A third round of talks is scheduled for next month. Interim President Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former vice president, has promised judicial changes and elections but has offered no timeline for a vote, including in her address to the U.N. General Assembly this week.
Political Prisoners Released After Talks
The rights group Justicia, Encuentro y Perdón said 39 political detainees were released from several prisons between Friday and Saturday, including eight women accused of “narco-terrorism” in 2021 and six people accused of working with the United States in a 2020 attempt to topple Maduro, France 24 reported. The group Foro Penal counted 344 political prisoners in Venezuela as of Sept. 18, and its vice president, Gonzalo Himiob, told the BBC that “a significant number” were released Saturday morning.
An amnesty law passed under U.S. pressure in February has produced releases only slowly, and families of detainees continue to protest outside the U.S. Embassy and the El Rodeo I prison, which rights groups describe as a torture center.
Washington’s Role and Election Pressure
The talks are proceeding with Washington’s approval after the U.S. military seized Maduro in January. Rodríguez met President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly this week, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said they discussed restructuring billions of dollars in Venezuelan sovereign debt. Trump said Friday he had also spoken with Rodríguez about elections but gave no details.
Critics say the Maduro-era security apparatus remains in place and that the interim government has been slow to open the political system, while opposition figures have renewed calls for a swift election. Venezuela’s standing in the region remains contested, as seen in its clash with Guyana over Essequibo at the U.N., and U.S. pressure is also reshaping neighbors such as Cuba, whose economic and energy crisis has deepened this year. Whether the court panel produces real change will be an early test of Caracas’s promises.
Background: Al Jazeera reported on Sept. 27 that 39 political prisoners had been freed after the talks. Rights groups said 344 political prisoners were still detained as of Sept. 18. The U.S. State Department later described the reconciliation talks as delivering concrete progress.
Sources
- Al Jazeera: Government and opposition agree to work toward reform of top court
- France 24: Venezuela releases more political prisoners
- BBC News: Venezuela talks
- Al Jazeera: Venezuela frees 39 political prisoners
- U.S. State Department: Reconciliation talks deliver concrete progress
Further Reading
- Third-Country Deportations: What the Supreme Court Ruled
- How the European Union Is Structured: Power, Institutions, and Ongoing Reform
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