MADRID: Exiled Venezuelan opposition figurehead Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia on Sunday called the immediate release of all political prisoners after a close ally of Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado was freed earlier in the day.
His statement came after Juan Pablo Guanipa, an opposition figure close to Corina Machado, was freed from jail, one month after authorities began releasing political prisoners following the ouster of Nicolas Maduro.
While welcoming the latest release of political prisoners, he posted on X: “These releases are not synonymous with full and complete freedom.
“As long as legal proceedings remain open and restrictive measures, threats or surveillance remain, the persecution continues,” he added.
“We continue to demand the full and immediate freedom of all people imprisoned for political reasons and the definitive closure of arbitrary proceedings.”
Gonzalez Urrutia is widely considered the rightful winner of 2024 presidential elections in which strongman incumbent Nicolas Maduro was re-elected. He fled to Spain after a crackdown by the authorities.
