Protesters have marched in duelling demonstrations in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, as the country’s National Assembly weighed a bill that would grant amnesty to political prisoners.
The demonstrations on Thursday marked Venezuela’s National Youth Day and were the first major showing of opposition to the government led by interim President Delcy Rodriguez.
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She has led the country since the United States abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January.
Her government called on its supporters to flood the streets with counterprotests, and both rallies attracted thousands of people.
The show of defiance came as the National Assembly debated a landmark bill that would grant amnesty to political prisoners detained under Maduro.
A final vote on the bill has been postponed, despite government statements previously indicating that it would be passed this week.
Rodriguez has overseen the release of hundreds of political prisoners since taking office, in what has been seen as one of several concessions to the administration of United States President Donald Trump.
Other moves have included staunching Venezuelan oil deliveries to Cuba and passing legislation to open the country’s state-controlled oil industry to more foreign companies.
An amnesty for political prisoners has long been a central demand of the opposition and human rights organisations.
However, critics have raised concerns over how the legislation, if passed, would be implemented and who would be eligible for release. The bill has not yet received a public reading.
Rodriguez had announced the amnesty legislation last month, saying it was designed “to heal the wounds left by the political confrontation fuelled by violence and extremism”.
She said it would cover what she described as the “entire period of political violence from 1999 to the present”.
The amnesty bill covers charges of treason, terrorism and spreading hate that were used to lock up dissidents over the past two decades.
It would not apply to those convicted of murder, drug trafficking, corruption or human rights violations, according to media reports about the legislation.
Alex Neve, a member of the United Nations’ Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Venezuela, said earlier this week that the bill “offers an opportunity to provide justice and alleviate the suffering of the many people who have been unlawfully detained for political reasons in Venezuela”.
However, Neve said that transparency was essential, and civil society groups “must be at the centre of this process”.
Already, human rights groups have questioned the Rodriguez government’s efforts to free political prisoners.
The Venezuelan-based human rights group Foro Penal has confirmed at least 431 people have been released – a figure lower than the government’s stated number.
More than 600 political prisoners remain in custody, according to Foro Penal’s statistics.
Critics also point to the case of Juan Pablo Guanipa, an opposition politician who was recently released, only to be placed under house arrest.
Scrutiny over elections
Still, the amnesty bill has been hailed as a breakthrough for a country that, up until recently, denied having political prisoners at all.
The bill is also slated to lift measures banning several opposition leaders from running for office, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado.
The Maduro government had been accused of using state violence to suppress the opposition, including through forced disappearances and torture.
It had also faced accusations of election rigging, most recently in 2024, when Maduro controversially claimed a third term as president.
Machado had been elected the opposition coalition’s nominee for the 2024 election, but she was barred from running only months before the vote, as was her successor, Corina Yoris.
Edmundo Gonzalez ultimately took on the role as the opposition’s candidate. The opposition has maintained Gonzalez was the rightful winner of the election, a position backed by independent experts.
On Monday, National Assembly leader Jorge Rodriguez, the president’s brother, ruled out holding new presidential elections in the immediate future, telling the US media outlet Newsmax that “stabilisation” must first be achieved.
The Trump administration has also dismissed pressure for new elections in Venezuela, despite Machado’s claims that the opposition has a “mandate” to govern.
Trump denies oil magnate’s role
Also on Thursday, Trump took to his Truth Social account to deny that the US oil magnate Harry Sargeant III had authority to make decisions on behalf of his administration in Venezuela.
“He has no authority, in any way, shape, or form, to act on behalf of the United States of America, nor does anyone else that is not approved by the State Department. Without this approval, no one is authorised to represent our Country,” Trump wrote.
The post appeared to be in response to media reports that Sargeant had been advising the US administration about how to gain access to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves, a top goal for Trump.
Sargeant, who has longstanding ties to Venezuela’s oil industry, is a Republican donor who also plays golf with Trump.
In his post, Trump added his administration was “dealing very well” with the Rodriguez-led government.
“Relations between Venezuela and the United States have been, to put it mildly, extraordinary!” Trump said in his post.
“But we speak only for ourselves, and don’t want there to be any confusion or misrepresentation.”
On Wednesday, Trump’s energy secretary, Chris Wright, met with Rodriguez in Caracas, where he touted cooperation on oil production.
The trip marked the first time a member of Trump’s cabinet had visited the country.
