Venezuela says it will free 'important number' of prisoners

The Venezuela government on Thursday said it will release an "important number" of prisoners, including some foreigners.

The move follows the kidnapping of the now-deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in an attack by US forces last weekend.

National Assembly head Jorge Rodriguez, the brother of Venezuela's new interim leader Delcy Rodriguez, said the release "is happening right now." He did not specify how many prisoners would be released.

Jorge Rodriguez said the release is for the sake of "peaceful coexistence."

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The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said five Spaniards are among the prisoners being released.

"The government of Spain welcomes the liberation today in Caracas of five Spaniards, one of them a dual national, who are preparing to travel to Spain," a statement from the ministry said.

Venezuelan human rights organization Penal Forum (Foro Penal) and its director Alfredo Romero welcomed the news in a post on X.  The group earlier said that as of January 5, there were still 806 political prisoners in Venezuela and called for their release.

Meanwhile, the extraordinary raid last weekend by the US military to capture Maduro has sparked a debate on whether US President Donald Trump should be limited in pursuing further action in Venezuela.

The US Senate on Thursday approved a war powers resolution that would prohibit Trump from further military action in Venezuela without congressional authorization.

Fifty-two senators, including five from Trump's Republican Party, voted in support of the measure.

Trump, who has suggested he could order further operations in Venezuela, plans to veto the bill. He said the Republican senators who voted for the measure "should never be elected to office again."

Both the Senate and the lower chamber, the House of Representatives, would each need a two-thirds majority to override the veto. This is an unlikely scenario in an extremely polarized Congress, with most Republican lawmakers still staunchly behind the president.