Venezuela releases some journalists and activists from prison as a gesture to ‘seek peace’

By MATIAS DELACROIX, Associated Press

GUATIRE, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela released citizens and foreigners from its prisons on Thursday in what a top government official described as a gesture to “seek peace” less than a week after former President Nicolás Maduro was captured by U.S. forces to face federal drug-trafficking charges in New York.

Jorge Rodríguez, brother of acting President Delcy Rodríguez and head of the National Assembly, said a “significant number” of people would be freed, but he was not specific about how many or provide names.

Venezuelan authorities have freed political prisoners before, but the releases on Thursday were the first since Maduro was deposed. Human rights groups were encouraged by the releases, though it wasn’t clear yet whether this might represent the early stages of a government in transition or was more of a symbolic effort to please the Trump administration, which has allowed Maduro’s loyalists to stay in control even as it exerts political pressure through crippling sanctions.

Journalists, lawyers...