Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez Delcy Rodríguez said the country’s recent amnesty is ending as the NGO Foro Penal reports that 473 political prisoners remain in custody. In addition, Caracas is fast-tracking investment laws, opposition leader María Corina Machado plans to return to the country this year, and US Southern Command launched new a combat unit covering the Caribbean and Latin America.
On March 18, Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodríguez removed longtime Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López and installed Gustavo González López, followed by initiating a broad restructuring of the military’s top leadership. These moves unfolded alongside US-supported stabilization efforts and the passage of a February 20 amnesty law that has facilitated the release of dozens of political prisoners. Nevertheless, a UN fact-finding mission reported that the country’s repressive apparatus remains largely unchanged.
The kidnapping of Juan Pablo Guanipa on February 8 raised worries that Venezuela’s Maduro-era repression apparatus remains active, even as US and Venezuelan authorities moved forward on political and economic reforms. Among these developments were the passage of a hydrocarbons law that ended the state’s monopoly on the oil industry and corresponding US sanctions relief.
On January 3, at around 2 am, the United States military began a wave of airstrikes on the Venezuelan capital of Caracas and surrounding areas. Major military installations were targeted, including Venezuela’s largest army base, Fuerte Tiuna, and the La Carlota airfield. At around 4:30 am, US President Donald Trump wrote that “The United States of America successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country.”
The United States has significantly escalated tensions with the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in recent weeks. After US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced “Operation Southern Spear” on November 13, the US sent the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to the Caribbean. The US also captured a sanctioned Venezuelan oil tanker and issued a Notice to Air Missions cautioning that civilian aircraft face a “potentially hazardous situation” when flying over Venezuelan territory. In response to US strikes on speedboats allegedly operated by Venezuelan “narco-terrorists,” France and the UK have diplomatically challenged the US.