Nicolás Maduro Releases Political Prisoners and the Opposition Splinters in the Run-Up to Legislative Elections in Venezuela

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On August 31, 2020, the Venezuelan government of President Nicolás Maduro announced that it had “pardoned” more than one hundred individuals, including dozens of political opponents that the Maduro regime had imprisoned, as well as others who had taken refuge in foreign embassies in Caracas, or had fled the country. The surprise move came three months before the December 6, 2020 election for the Asamblea Nacional (AN), Venezuela’s unicameral legislature. The coalition led by AN President Juan Guaidó (the Voluntad Popular party of Leopoldo López, the Primero Justicia of Henrique Capriles, Acción Democrática, and Un Nuevo Tiempo, known collectively as the G4) has called for a boycott of the election, arguing that conditions for the vote are not conducive to a fair, democratic, and transparent vote. Significantly, the “pardon” did not extend to some of the most prominent opposition leaders, such as Leopoldo López, who remains inside the Spanish ambassador’s residence in Caracas, Henrique Capriles, former governor of Miranda, or Julio Borges, a powerful opposition lawmaker who is in Colombia. After the announcement, several leaders of the various opposition factions demonstrated that they were not inclined to follow Guaidó’s lead, and will participate in the elections. Media analysts and opinion writers offered plenty of perspective.

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