Venezuela’s top lawmaker says more than 400 prisoners have been released
The announcement contradicts claims from local rights groups that no more than 70 prisoners have been freed.

The announcement contradicts claims from local rights groups that no more than 70 prisoners have been freed.






![U.S. President Donald Trump holds a press conference following a U.S. strike on Venezuela where President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured, from Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., January 3, 2026. [Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2026-01-03T165300Z_824548544_RC2STIA7D0LY_RTRMADP_3_USA-VENEZUELA_cropped-1767460525.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)

![A screenshot from a US Department of Defense video purporting to show the seizure of a fifth sanctioned oil tanker, the Olina, in the Caribbean Sea on Jan. 9, 2026. [US Department of Defense/AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/image-1767982895.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)

President Donald Trump aims to control and revive Venezuela’s oil industry. Critics call it modern-day colonialism.
Operation comes days after US seized Russian-flagged tanker; US pledges to continue blockade following Maduro abduction.
Nicolas Maduro’s kidnapping is about the US state’s politics, not Venezuela’s oil.
Former Venezuelan opposition candidate Enrique Marquez is among ‘large number’ of prisoners released.
The sociopolitical ideology founded by former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is rooted in anti-imperialism.
US oil company executives are expected to meet with Trump to discuss investments in Venezuela’s oil sector.
A country ‘cannot enforce its law on the territory of another state’ without consent, UN rapporteur tells Al Jazeera.

Venezuela’s interim leader has hit back at US plans to indefinitely control her country’s oil wealth.
Venezuela’s interior minister says US operation to abduct Maduro killed 100 people and wounded dozens.
US says it will control Venezuelan oil sales ‘indefinitely’, raising questions about what revenues Caracas might get.