Families of Venezuelan prisoners demand their release after weeks of waiting outside prisons

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Families of Venezuelan prisoners on Tuesday demanded the release of nearly 800 imprisoned critics, journalists and members of the opposition still detained in the South American nation.

The call came after family members waited two weeks outside of prisons following the government's announcement that it would release a “significant number” of prisoners detained under Nicolás Maduro. The former president was deposed in early January in an overnight U.S. military raid.

In the wake of criticism that the government had only released a handful of people, acting President Delcy Rodríguez last week vowed to continue releasing prisoners.

Rodríguez called it “a new political moment” for Venezuela.

Despite that, Venezuelans like Francis Quiñones say they feel the same turmoil that families of prisoners have felt for years. While much of Venezuela has started to move on from the chaos of just a few weeks earlier, people like her are stuck in limbo.

Groups of families have spent two weeks camped out outside a Caracas prison known as Helicoide, which activist groups said holds a number of government opponents. Quiñones, whose son has been detained for more than five years, said she hasn't been able to speak to him in more than six months. But she holds onto hope that they may be reunited.

“Here we are waiting. ... Every day, we're out here outside the Helicoide,” she said. “(The government) is killing us psychologically.”

As of Tuesday, Venezuela’s leading prisoner rights organization, Foro Penal, had verified the release of 145 people it considers “political prisoners.” Around 775 more remain in detention, according to the organization’s leader, Alfredo Romero.

Romero said that those who have been released may not be locked up anymore, but they're far from free. Most released face government restrictions, including gag orders on speaking to the media and mandatory check-ins with authorities, he said. Others are blocked from leaving the country.

“These people are not free,” Romero said. “They are subjected to constant, latent persecution.”

In Caracas, a row of tents lines the curb where relatives display posters of the missing. Over the weekend, families clustered together, embracing as they lit candles in a vigil.

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