Rafael Tudares, the son-in-law of Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González, has been released from prison, his wife announced, after spending over a year detained as part of a wider crackdown on dissent by the Maduro government.
Mariana González expressed relief as her husband returned after 380 days of unjust and arbitrary detention. Tudares was one of more than 150 detainees released following a high-profile US military operation that targeted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro for drug-trafficking charges.
Despite Tudares's release, an NGO dedicated to political prisoners has reported that 777 individuals remain incarcerated. Tensions escalated in Venezuela as the former vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, has assumed power after Maduro's ousting, receiving support from US President Donald Trump.
The Trump administration has emphasized the need for the release of political prisoners, urging Rodríguez's government to undertake this action. Following the US raid, the head of the National Assembly announced potential releases as a gesture of peace; however, rights organizations criticized the process as slow and inadequate, with personnel remaining in legal limbo.
Tudares's imprisonment represented a key case of political repression following the contested 2024 election, where González had emerged as the primary opponent to Maduro amidst claims of electoral fraud. His arrest was part of a larger wave of suppression against opposition leaders and their families.
Mariana González took to social media to express gratitude to supporters who fought for her husband's release, while also highlighting the ongoing plight of many families still searching for their loved ones who have been forcibly disappeared and unjustly locked up in Venezuela.
