Edmundo González demands the release of all political prisoners for the “normalization” of Venezuela

Venezuelan political leader Edmundo González broke his silence this Sunday after the American attack on Venezuela which resulted in the arrest of Nicolas Maduro. In a video message published on his networks, González called for the freedom of all political prisoners. “Venezuelans, recent events have marked a turning point in the history of Venezuela. This moment constitutes an important step, but not sufficient. The true normalization of the country will only be possible when all citizens deprived of their liberty for political reasons are released and when the majority will expressed by the Venezuelan people on July 28 is respected,” he said, referring to the 2024 presidential elections.

At that time, international observers denounced fraud in the official results which declared Maduro the winner. Many countries, including the United States, accepted as valid the opposition minutes which showed a clear victory for then-candidate González.

According to the NGO Foro Penal, Venezuela closed the year 2025 with 863 political prisoners. Its president, Alfredo Romero, joined calls for their release this Sunday, in a gesture of “unifying the Venezuelan population”.

González, who has been living in exile in Spain since Maduro refused to leave power after the elections, stressed that Venezuela needs unity and also “justice, truth and reconciliation, without impunity” to be able to launch a democratic transition in the Caribbean country after 26 years of Chavista governments.

The opposition leader knows he needs the support of Venezuela’s armed forces and security forces to govern and they remain loyal to Maduro for now and demand his release. It is for this reason that he asked them to stop responding to Chavismo. “Your duty is to fulfill and enforce the sovereign mandate. As Commander-in-Chief, I remind you that your loyalty is to the Constitution, the people and the Republic,” he told them.

The lack of internal support for González and María Corina Machado, also an opponent, is one of the arguments that the American administration used this weekend to exclude that they are currently assuming the transition of the country. On the contrary, Donald Trump is betting on the Venezuelan vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez, on the condition that she accepts the course set by Washington. “If you don’t do the right thing,” the US president said in a telephone interview with Atlantic“will pay a very high price, probably higher than that of Maduro”, imprisoned while awaiting trial in New York.

González concluded his statement with an optimistic message about the historic moment Venezuela is going through: “The country that comes must be a country of rights, institutions and hope. We will build this country together.”