The son-in-law of Venezuelan opposition leader and former presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez has been released from prison in the South American country.
The release of Rafael Tudares Bracho on Thursday comes as the government of interim President Delcy Rodriguez gradually reduces the number of political prisoners held in Venezuela’s prisons.
The move has been widely seen as a concession to the administration of United States President Donald Trump, which has kept military assets deployed off the country’s coast and threatened Venezuelan officials if they do not comply with US demands.
Rodriguez was sworn into office shortly after Trump authorised the abduction of her predecessor, former President Nicolas Maduro, on January 3. Members of the opposition coalition expressed joy at the news of Tudares Bracho’s release.
“After 380 days of unjust and arbitrary detention — having endured more than a year of the inhumane reality of enforced disappearance — my husband Rafael Tudares Bracho returned home this morning,” Edmundo Gonzalez’s daughter, Mariana Gonzalez, wrote on the social media platform X.
“It has been a stoic and profoundly difficult struggle.”
The elder Gonzalez stood against Maduro in the 2024 presidential election after the opposition’s elected nominee, Maria Corina Machado, was barred from running. Election tallies released by the opposition and verified by independent observers showed Gonzalez winning the race, despite Maduro’s claims of victory.
Tudares Bracho was arrested in January 2025, just days before Maduro’s inauguration for a third term, following what his wife has called a “sham” 12-hour trial on charges of “conspiracy, terrorism and criminal association”.
His release comes as the families of Venezuelan prisoners hold vigils at prisons across the country, demanding the release of their loved ones.
Venezuela’s leading prisoner rights organisation, Foro Penal, has verified the release of 145 people it considers to be political prisoners, though at least 775 more remain in detention.
Edmundo Gonzalez, who has remained in exile since the 2024 election, posted a video on social media hailing his son-in-law’s freedom and calling for the release of other Venezuelans who he said remain unjustly detained.
“It would be a mistake to reduce this event to a personal story,” he said. “There are still men and women who remain deprived of their liberty for political reasons, without guarantees, without due process, and in many cases, without truth.”
The Trump administration has so far avoided backing opposition figures to lead Venezuela after Maduro’s abduction.
The US has instead emphasised working with Rodriguez and other officials from Maduro’s government to ensure stability, while it pursues extraction from Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
Rodriguez, Maduro’s former vice president, has walked a careful line since her boss’s abduction, initially striking a defiant tone with her domestic audience that has gradually morphed into more conciliatory messaging.
She and Trump held their first call last week, when she also met CIA director John Ratcliff. Shortly after, Rodriguez called for the government to open its state-run oil industry to more foreign development, a key Trump demand.