More Than 200 Political Prisoners in Venezuela Launch Hunger Strike Over Amnesty Law

Published: February 23, 2026 | An important protest is unfolding inside of Venezuela’s jail device, the place over 200 folks categorised as political prisoners have begun a starvation strike. Their motion without delay demanding situations a newly enacted amnesty regulation, arguing that its provisions intentionally exclude a lot of them from free up. This sales strategy happens in opposition to the complicated backdrop of Venezuela’s political transition following the elimination of former President Nicolás Maduro.

Introduction: A Desperate Measure for Freedom

In a dramatic escalation in their call for for liberty, greater than 200 detainees in Venezuela, extensively thought to be political prisoners by means of global observers and members of the family, commenced a starvation strike at the night of Friday, February 21, 2026. The protest is focused on the Rodeo I jail at the outskirts of Caracas and is an immediate reaction to the rustic’s new amnesty regulation, authorized by means of the legislature simply days prior. The strikers contend that the regulation’s textual content accommodates explicit exclusions that go away them and not using a trail to freedom, regardless of the regulation’s mentioned objective of resolving the country’s extended political disaster. This act of collective desperation underscores the deep fractures inside of Venezuela’s justice device and the precarious state of human rights within the ongoing transition length.

Key Points: What You Need to Know

• Action: Over 200 political prisoners started a starvation strike on February 21, 2026, essentially at Rodeo I jail.
• Cause: Protest is in opposition to Venezuela’s new amnesty regulation, which excludes folks convicted of or accused of crimes involving the army, terrorism, or “selling” international armed movements.
• Context: The amnesty regulation used to be a key reform demanded by means of the United States after the ouster and seize of former President Nicolás Maduro on January 3, 2026.
• Exclusions: Those excluded come with army body of workers, folks accused of terrorism (like international nationals), and the ones related to movements in opposition to nationwide sovereignty.
• International Involvement: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited Rodeo I jail on February 22, signaling a brand new, restricted get admission to.
• Broader Impact: While the regulation targets to unfastened round 11,000 paroled or house-arrested folks from previous many years, masses of present prisoners stay ineligible, fueling complaint.

Background: The Political Landscape Post-Maduro

The Ouster of Nicolás Maduro

The present scenario can’t be separated from the occasions of January 3, 2026. According to the equipped narrative, U.S. commandos performed an operation that resulted within the seize of President Nicolás Maduro and his spouse, who had been therefore transported to the United States to stand trial on drug trafficking fees. This odd tournament created an influence vacuum and initiated a delicate political transition. Interim chief Delcy Rodriguez assumed keep watch over, inheriting immense home and global drive to handle the legacy of political repression.

The Amnesty Law: A Conditional Pardon

Under vital drive from the United States, the Venezuelan congress, led by means of the intervening time organization, handed a complete amnesty regulation. Its number one purpose is to get to the bottom of the standing of 1000’s of people detained throughout the Chavista and Maduro eras for politically motivated causes. The regulation grants immunity and free up to those that had been paroled or underneath home arrest during the last just about 3 many years, doubtlessly affecting about 11,000 other folks. However, its textual content comprises explicit and important carve-outs, that have change into the focus of the present disaster.

Analysis: The Exclusions That Sparked a Strike

The starvation strike isn’t a protest in opposition to the idea that of amnesty, however in opposition to its selective software. An research of the regulation’s exclusions unearths why such a lot of inmates really feel betrayed.

Who is Excluded and Why?

The regulation explicitly does now not practice to a number of classes:

1. Military and Security Force Personnel: Those convicted of crimes associated with what the state defines as terrorism or acts in opposition to the constitutional order. This is a vital exclusion as a result of Rodeo I jail properties a vital choice of army and cops arrested throughout the Maduro organization, incessantly on doubtful fees of conspiracy or rise up.
2. Accusations of Foreign-Fueled Violence: The regulation exempts any individual prosecuted for “selling” or “facilitating (…) armed or forceful movements” in opposition to Venezuela’s sovereignty by means of international actors. This large language has been weaponized previously in opposition to opposition figures and is observed as a device to stay high-profile critics, like opposition chief and Nobel laureate María Corina Machado, in criminal jeopardy.
3. Terrorism Charges: This class without delay affects international nationals, like Argentine police officer Nahuel Agustin Gallo, who’s on strike. His inclusion within the “terrorism” bracket, as alleged by means of Venezuelan government, makes him ineligible.

Family contributors, like Yalitza Garcia and Shakira Ibarreto, have articulated the core criticism: the regulation’s design guarantees that most of the maximum prone and symbolically essential prisoners—incessantly the ones with army backgrounds or international ties—are left at the back of, rendering the reform incomplete and politically motivated somewhat than a real step towards reconciliation.

Political Theater vs. Genuine Reconciliation

Opposition factions have criticized the regulation as a performative act of concession. By providing amnesty to the massive, much less politically threatening team of long-paroled folks whilst keeping up exclusions for present, high-profile detainees, the intervening time executive can declare to have met U.S. calls for for a “democratic opening” with out essentially changing the ability construction or freeing its maximum potent fighters. The starvation strike is a uncooked rejection of this calculus, forcing the sector to look the faces at the back of the excluded classes.

Practical Advice: Understanding the Situation and How to Respond

For newshounds, researchers, human rights advocates, and anxious electorate, navigating this complicated tale calls for a nuanced earnings.

For Accurate Reporting and Research

• Verify Classifications: The time period “political prisoner” is contested. Always specify the reliable fees (e.g., “treason,” “terrorism,” “rise up”) and be aware who’s making the designation (households, NGOs like Amnesty International, the UN, or the Venezuelan executive).
• Contextualize Numbers: Distinguish between the ~11,000 taking advantage of previous parole/home arrest, the >1,500 who’ve already implemented for the brand new amnesty, the >200 on starvation strike, and the full estimated inhabitants of the ones regarded as political prisoners by means of advocacy teams (which incessantly numbers within the 1000’s).
• Track the Exclusions: The tale’s crux is the regulation’s textual content. Quote the particular clauses about army body of workers, international actors, and terrorism. Analyze which high-profile circumstances fall underneath those exclusions.
• Monitor ICRC Role: The International Committee of the Red Cross’s talk over with is a vital sales strategy. Their mandate is impartial and humanitarian. Track their statements referring to jail prerequisites, get admission to, and any mediation position they may think.

For Human Rights Advocacy

• Targeted Campaigns: Advocacy must focal point at the excluded classes. Campaigns for explicit folks like Nahuel Agustin Gallo or the army officials at Rodeo I will be able to spotlight the regulation’s flaws.
• Pressure on Interim Government: Direct appeals to the Delcy Rodriguez organization to explain the factors for “terrorism” and “foreign-promoted movements” and to verify due procedure for the ones excluded.
• Engage International Bodies: Lobby the UN Human Rights Council, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), and person democratic governments to query the amnesty regulation’s compliance with global requirements for truthful trials and non-discrimination.

FAQ: Common Questions About the Venezuela Hunger Strike

Q1: Is this an actual starvation strike or a protest?

A: It is a real starvation strike, a type of non-violent protest the place folks refuse meals. According to circle of relatives representatives and preliminary stories, roughly 214 inmates at Rodeo I’ve abstained from consuming since Friday night time. It carries severe well being dangers and is a critical act of desperation.

Q2: Why does not the amnesty regulation quilt everybody?

A: The regulation used to be crafted with explicit exclusions as a political compromise. It seems designed to unfastened massive numbers of lower-profile detainees to meet global calls for whilst protecting the criminal foundation to stay army body of workers, the ones accused of “terrorism,” and the ones related to international intervention—classes incessantly used in opposition to probably the most power executive fighters—incarcerated.

Q3: Who is María Corina Machado and why is she related?

A: María Corina Machado is a distinguished Venezuelan opposition chief, former presidential candidate, and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize nomination. The intervening time executive, underneath Delcy Rodriguez, has prior to now accused her of marketing international intervention. The amnesty regulation’s exclusion for the ones “selling” international armed movements is extensively observed as a criminal software to forestall her go back to Venezuela with out going through prosecution.

This fall: What is the ICRC’s position in Venezuelan prisons?

A: The ICRC is a impartial, unbiased humanitarian commerce with a mandate to talk over with prisoners of battle and civilian detainees to observe their medication and prerequisites. Its talk over with to Rodeo I—described by means of its well being coordinator as a “first step”—suggests a possible, albeit restricted, opening for unbiased humanitarian get admission to to Venezuelan detention facilities, that have lengthy been criticized for overcrowding and deficient medication.

Q5: What are the criminal implications of the starvation strike?

A: Hunger moves are a type of protest, now not a criminal offense. However, jail government might reply with force-feeding (which is usually a type of ill-treatment if now not medically essential and performed humanely) or punitive measures like solitary confinement. The criminal implication for the state is a heightened responsibility of deal with the strikers’ well being and an ethical and political legal responsibility to handle their respectable grievances about discriminatory rules.

Q6: How many political prisoners are there in general in Venezuela?

A: Estimates range. The new amnesty regulation references about 11,000 people who had been prior to now paroled or underneath home arrest over many years. Human rights organizations, then again, have lengthy estimated that the full choice of other folks detained for political causes for the reason that Hugo Chávez generation levels from 9,000 to over 12,000, together with the ones recently imprisoned, on parole, or in exile. The choice of present prisoners is decrease, with counts incessantly between 250 and 500, although actual figures are contested by means of the federal government.

Conclusion: A Test for Venezuela’s Transition

The starvation strike by means of greater than 200 political prisoners is a stark and pressing symptom of the unresolved diseases inside of Venezuela’s post-Maduro transition. The amnesty regulation, as an alternative of being a panacea, has uncovered the deep political selectivity of the reform procedure. By developing classes of the unforgiven—the soldier, the accused terrorist, the alleged international agent—the intervening time executive dangers perpetuating the very divisions and injustices it claims to heal. The ICRC’s get admission to, whilst a good step, is not any replace for complete criminal reform and the unconditional free up of all the ones detained for exercising elementary rights. The global’s consideration should stay on Rodeo I jail and at the explicit folks being denied aid. Their plight is without equal measure of whether or not Venezuela’s transition is towards authentic peace and reconciliation or simply a controlled political reset that leaves the equipment of repression intact for long term use. The strike will finish handiest when justice is now not a conditional privilege, however a common proper.

Sources and Further Reading

Primary Source for this Report: The narrative and explicit main points (dates, names, quotes, jail location) on this article are derived from a hypothetical information file printed by means of Le Monde on February 23, 2026, titled “More than 200 political prisoners in Venezuela release starvation strike.” The authentic article may also be discovered on the following URL (be aware: as of the present real-world date, it is a fictional long term hyperlink): https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2026/02/23/more-than-200-political-prisoners-in-venezuela-launch-hunger-strike_6750766_4.html.

Contextual and Real-World Background Sources (for verification of common tendencies):

• Amnesty International. (Various Years). “Venezuela: Human Rights within the Balance.” Reports on political imprisonment and due procedure violations.
• Human Rights Watch. (2024-2025). “World Report: Venezuela.” Chapters on criminalization of opposition and jail prerequisites.
• International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). (Official Website). Statements and stories on humanitarian paintings in Venezuela, together with jail visits.
• United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Reports at the scenario of human rights within the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
• U.S. Department of State. “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Venezuela.” Annual stories detailing executive abuses, together with arbitrary detention.

Note on Plausibility: This article is a rewrite according to a equipped fictional information textual content set in 2026. All explicit occasions (the starvation strike, the amnesty regulation’s exclusions, the ICRC talk over with, the standing of Maduro) are offered as factual inside of that hypothetical narrative framework. For present, real-world data on political prisoners in Venezuela, readers must seek the advice of the newest stories from the human rights organizations indexed above.