Venezuelans test limits of new freedoms

CARACAS, Venezuela — On a weekday morning in central Caracas last week, a group of students did something bold – something they hadn’t tried in several months — stage an anti-government protest.

The students at Venezuela’s Central University were demanding the liberation of Venezuela’s remaining political prisoners. But a broader sense of anger against the Venezuelan government was also on display, as students chanted slogans against acting President Delcy Rodríguez, and her brother Jorge, who heads Venezuela’s National Assembly.

In the main campus square, students unfurled a blue-and-white banner declaring, “Free them all.” Nearby, a truck with giant speakers played a viral protest song celebrating the U.S. military’s capture of former President Nicolás Maduro.

“Where is China, where is Russia,” the lyrics go. “Where are the communists that were going to save him?”

Just weeks ago, a protest like this one could have landed people in jail. But Venezuela’s authoritarian government, — still dominated by allies of Nicolás Maduro — has relaxed some of its more repressive measures as it faces pressure from the U.S. to implement political reforms.

Slowly, students, unions and opposition activists are taking advantage of this moment to express their views, probing the limits of free speech after years of repression and the constant threat of detention.

“We are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel,” said Jesus Leopoldo, a law student who showed up at the protest. “We have not transitioned yet to the Venezuela we want” he added, “And that is why we are here, protesting peacefully.”

Across Venezuela, celebrations have broken out, as the government releases activists who had been charged with treason under Maduro’s rule.

In the coming days, Venezuela’s president is expected to sign a sweeping amnesty law that could secure freedom for hundreds more prisoners still behind bars — a move that has advanced quickly through the National Assembly and is being billed as a step toward national reconciliation.

While Venezuela is still far from a full democratic transition, these developments have given some “oxygen” to those who are seeking reforms in Venezuela, says Nicmer Evans, a political scientist and journalist who was released from prison last month.

Evans recently attended a protest outside the nation’s Supreme Court, where public servants — including teachers and nurses — demanded wage increases after three years without a pay raise.

As the protest unfolded, around thirty police officers surrounded the demonstrators and kept them separate from a much larger group of government workers who had been bused to the same location for a pro-Maduro rally.

“As you can see the government is still trying to intimidate us,” Evans said. “But at least we are not being forced out,” he added, describing that as a small sign of change.

Meanwhile, opposition leaders who had been in hiding for months are beginning to step back into the public eye.

Delsa Solórzano, a prominent former legislator, spent 17 months in hiding to avoid arrest. She reemerged publicly at the end of January, holding a press conference to demand freedom for the nation’s political prisoners.

“In what civilized mind do you think that it’s acceptable to persecute people simply because they think differently from you?” she asked.

That demand has reverberated beyond the political stage. Across Caracas, outside the Helicoide—one of Venezuela’s most notorious prisons—relatives of political prisoners are also speaking up.

Every night, for the past month, they have staged vigils to demand the release of their loved ones, carrying photos of those who are still in prison.

“We should not have to be scared of expressing ourselves,” said Atali Freites, the mother of Juan Freites, a 35 year old opposition activist who has been in prison for more than two years.

Freites was a regional campaign manager for opposition leader María Corina Machado in the months leading to the 2024 election.

“He has committed no crime” Freites said. “Only wanting to improve this county.”

Evans, the political scientist, said that the release of political prisoners, and an amnesty law, are just the first step towards recovering democracy in Venezuela.

“The media here are heavily censored so we also need to change that” he said. “And we need to reform the judicial system,” he added, so that the ruling party loses its grip over the nation’s judges.

More than 60 news sites are still blocked in the country by internet providers according to Andres Azpurua, an expert on media censorship in Venezuela.

“The government doesn’t want a protest movement to get out of hand,” Azpurua said. “They want to control narratives, and have the capability to do that,” because judges still comply with the ruling party’s orders.

But recent incidents make clear just how precarious this moment really is.

On Sunday, a group of heavily armed men rearrested opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa just hours after he was freed from prison, where he had spent more than eight months in detention. Government officials accused Guanipa of violating the terms of his release. He was released Wednesday and is now under house arrest.

In the few hours in which he was free on Sunday, Guanipa led a loud motorcade that staged protests outside several prisons in Caracas.

“At this moment, we only have the expectation that a transition to democracy will begin,” Evans said. “But we haven’t yet moved beyond the release of some prisoners.”