Juan Pablo Guanipa regains full freedom with the approval of the measure, which excludes those who promote or participate in armed actions.
EFE (via 14ymedio), Caracas, February 20, 2026 – The Amnesty Law unanimously approved this Thursday in a historic debate in Venezuela’s National Assembly is presented as an opportunity to lay the foundations for a new political future in the South American country, while NGOs and opposition figures express doubts about the prospects for reconciliation.
Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, said she felt “very pleased” with the approval of the law, which she believes opens the door for citizens to reunite and for the country to learn to coexist peacefully and democratically.
“So that Venezuela sheds hatred and intolerance, so that human rights prevail, so that love, understanding, and recognition prevail,” she added after signing the legislation at the Miraflores presidential palace, accompanied by National Assembly president Jorge Rodríguez and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello.
The Chavista leader maintained that one must “know how to ask for forgiveness and also receive forgiveness,” which, she said, is now made possible by this new law
The Chavista leader maintained that one must “know how to ask for forgiveness and also receive forgiveness,” which, she said, is now made possible by this new law.
“To be clear (…) amnesty is forgiveness for certain types of crimes,” Rodríguez said during the parliamentary session, adding that “one does not forgive someone who has not committed an offense” established in the law.
“Let no one think that we are endorsing impunity here. No, it is a pardon being decided by Venezuela’s political leadership, at the request of the acting president,” the lawmaker explained.
Likewise, the head of Parliament told a group of journalists in Miraflores that the amnesty could lay the groundwork for looking toward the future and embarking on a new path of peace in Venezuela.
The amnesty also comes amid the “new political moment” announced by Rodríguez after the capture of Nicolás Maduro by the United States, which also called for the release of political prisoners. The acting president also requested the closure of the feared El Helicoide prison, accused by opponents of being a torture center.
Lawmakers approved granting amnesty for acts or “offenses committed” during different episodes of political crisis between 2002 and 2025, such as the coup against the late president Hugo Chávez in April 2002, the oil strike at the end of that year and the beginning of 2003, and the anti-government protests in 2013, 2017, and 2024.
However, the acting president asked Parliament, the Coexistence and Peace program that promotes political dialogue, and the judicial reform commission to evaluate cases not covered by the approved law in order to “heal wounds, restore democratic coexistence,” and advance justice.
Article 9 of the new legislation excludes from amnesty crimes involving serious human rights violations, crimes against humanity, intentional homicide, very serious bodily injury, drug trafficking, as well as offenses established in the anti-corruption law.
It also excludes individuals who are or may be prosecuted or convicted for “promoting, instigating, requesting, invoking, favoring, facilitating, financing, or participating in armed or forceful actions against the people, sovereignty, and territorial integrity” of Venezuela by “States, corporations, or foreign persons.”
It also excludes individuals who are or may be prosecuted or convicted for “promoting, instigating, requesting, invoking, favoring, facilitating, financing, or participating in armed or forceful actions against the people, sovereignty, and territorial integrity”
Article 11 states that a court with jurisdiction over the alleged offense will verify the application of the amnesty and declare the nullity of all ongoing proceedings or review final sentences for annulment within a period “not exceeding 15 consecutive days.”
The legislation also provides that individuals benefiting from this law who commit crimes after its entry into force will be prosecuted normally under existing laws.
Several human rights NGOs and Venezuelan opposition figures expressed reservations on social media following the law’s approval. Among them, Provea’s general coordinator, Oscar Murillo, said the measure does not align “with the spirit of peace and reconciliation that such a norm should have.”
The president of the NGO Foro Penal, Alfredo Romero, wrote on X that the law should be received with optimism but it is also restrictive and leaves out “many cases.”
The NGO Justicia, Encuentro y Perdón stated that the approved text is “revictimizing, exclusionary, and in no way guarantees the full release of all political prisoners.”
Likewise, the opposition party Primero Justicia said the law is “insufficient and biased.” However, one of the first high-profile releases was that of one of its leaders, Juan Pablo Guanipa, a collaborator of the opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado.
“I want to confirm that I am now fully free,” Guanipa said on social media. The former lawmaker argued that the law passed in Parliament “is not an amnesty at all,” but a document intended to “blackmail many innocent Venezuelans” and exclude people who remain imprisoned.
“Torture centers in Venezuela remain open, and hundreds of Venezuelans are still in exile. The laws used to repress remain in force, and dozens of officers from our National Armed Forces remain imprisoned”
“Torture centers in Venezuela remain open, and hundreds of Venezuelans are still in exile. The laws used to repress remain in force, and dozens of officers from our National Armed Forces remain imprisoned for speaking out against the plundering of our homeland,” he said.
In that regard, he called for focusing efforts and working tirelessly until Venezuela “is once again free and prosperous,” alongside Machado and the opposition leader in exile, Edmundo González Urrutia.
Guanipa reiterated his demand that all political prisoners be released “immediately” and that all exiles return. “I agree with reconciliation among Venezuelans but only with the truth upfront. A reconciliation based on lies is like a giant with feet of clay: it collapses at the first sign of trouble,” he said.
For his part, opposition lawmaker Stalin González, a member of the law’s oversight commission, believes the amnesty is a “tool to rebuild justice,” although “it is not perfect.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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