The son-in-law of Venezuelan opposition leader and former presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez has been released from prison in the South American country.
The release of Rafael Tudares Bracho on Thursday comes as the government of interim President Delcy Rodriguez gradually reduces the number of political prisoners held in Venezuela’s prisons.
The move has been widely seen as a concession to the administration of United States President Donald Trump, which has kept military assets deployed off the country’s coast and threatened Venezuelan officials if they do not comply with US demands.
Rodriguez was sworn into office shortly after Trump authorised the abduction of her predecessor, former President Nicolas Maduro, on January 3. Members of the opposition coalition expressed joy at the news of Tudares Bracho’s release.
“After 380 days of unjust and arbitrary detention — having endured more than a year of the inhumane reality of enforced disappearance — my husband Rafael Tudares Bracho returned home this morning,” Edmundo Gonzalez’s daughter, Mariana Gonzalez, wrote on the social media platform X.
“It has been a stoic and profoundly difficult struggle.”
The elder Gonzalez stood against Maduro in the 2024 presidential election after the opposition’s elected nominee, Maria Corina Machado, was barred from running. Election tallies released by the opposition and verified by independent observers showed Gonzalez winning the race, despite Maduro’s claims of victory.
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