THE Venezuela government has started releasing detainees considered by human rights groups and international commentators to be political prisoners, including five Spanish citizens.
Spain’s foreign ministry said the releases were a ‘positive step in the new phase that Venezuela is entering’ after the country’s controversial president Nicolas Maduro was abducted by US special forces in a daring helicopter raid in Caracas earlier this month.
The five detainees landed in Madrid over the weekend, where they were greeted by dozens of Venezuelan expats cheering and waving national flags.
Among the group is prominent Venezuelan-Spanish rights activists Rocio San Miguel, who was arrested in February 2024 at Maiquetia international airport in an operation widely condemned by opposition politicians and human rights groups.
She was accused of being involved in a plot to kill Maduro and faced charges of treason, conspiracy and terrorism.
The released prisoners also include Jose Maria Basoa and Andres Martinez Adasme, two Basque friends arrested in similar circumstances to San Miguel over an alleged plot to ‘destabilise’ the South American nation and assassinate senior politicians.
The pair were among six foreigners taken into custody over the alleged plot in September 2024.
Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela’s hardline interior minister, described the detainees as ‘mercenaries’ and claimed the CIA was leading an operation to kill Maduro and other top figures in his left-wing regime.
He said the Spanish duo were arrested while taking photographs in Puerto Ayacucho in the southwest of the country, adding that he believed they were planning to kill the local mayor.
The city, near to the border with neighbouring Colombia, is both popular with birdwatchers and an important base for the country’s army and navy.
The Spanish and American security services strenuously denied any involvement, while the families of the alleged spies insisted they were simply tourists on holiday.
The releases come after US forces launched an unprecedented military assault over a week ago that resulted in the capture of Maduro and his wife, who have since been taken to New York where they face a range of criminal charges including ‘narco-terrorism’.
President Trump announced that the US will run the country for an unspecified transitional period.
More than 150 US aircraft were used in the mission, taking out key military sites in Caracas before elite Delta Force soldiers moved in to abduct Maduro, the socialist leader who has clung on to power since 2013, from a ‘fortress-like’ compound in the heart of the Venezuelan capital.
“This was one of the most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American military might and competence in American history,” said Trump.
Washington accuses Maduro of leading the Cartel of the Suns narco gang, which he denies.
Maduro’s capture was condemned by Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez, who slammed the operation as ‘an intervention that violates international law and pushes the region towards a horizon of uncertainty and belligerence’.
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