Venezuela’s government must release jailed Americans for its relationship with the US to move forward, Assistant Secretary of State Brian Nichols said on Tuesday. “Without progress in this area a normal relationship with Venezuela is not possible,” Nichols said at an Atlantic Council event in DC. “We continue to insist and advocate for their immediate release.” By Patricia Laya and Fabiola Zerpa. Full Text -> Bloomberg

La dictadura de Nicolás Maduro mantiene a 245 presos políticos en calabozos del régimen, reveló la ONG Foro Penal en su informe semanal con las cifras actualizadas. En efecto, en su última actualización, la ONG precisa que entre los detenidos se encuentran 232 hombres y 13 mujeres, de los cuales 118 son civiles y 127 militares. De igual forma, el Foro Penal repudió que el régimen de Maduro mantenga privado de libertad a un menor de edad entre sus presos políticos, situación que se ha venido denunciando periódicamente, sin que las organizaciones que tienen que ver con la defensa de los niños, niñas y adolescentes se hayan pronunciado. Texto Completo-> CorreodelCaroni

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Venezuela’s Penal Forum estimates that Nearly three-quarters of all political detainees are awaiting trial for more than two years, the group said on Monday, arguing it is a sign that authorities use pretrial detention as a punishment. Venezuelan law states that pretrial detention cannot last more than that time, Penal Forum’s directors Alfredo Romero and Gonzalo Himiob said in a press conference, noting that 49 of the 323 individuals they consider political prisoners have been detained for longer than that amount of time. Full Text -> MercoPress

The Venezuelan opposition, a group under the image of President Juan Guide, on Saturday condemned the military’s recent detention by the government of Nicolas Maduro and those considered “political prisoners”. “Our institutional officers of the Armed Forces who are imprisoned for upholding the Constitution are being tortured and subjected to the worst prison conditions,” Venezuelan opponent Julio Borges was quoted as saying. Full Text -> TheClevelandAmerican

A Venezuelan police special forces unit has illegally detained former legislator Gilberto Sojo, an ally of opposition leader Juan Guaido, the opposition said. The unit, known as FAES, has been widely accused of human rights abuses, and international activists have called on President Nicolas Maduro to abolish it. By Brian Ellsworth. Full Text -> NationalPost

One of Venezuela’s most influential union leaders has vowed to press on with his fight for workers’ rights after his release this week from two years of detention in a military prison on what he calls trumped up charges. Soldiers detained Ruben Gonzalez, one of 110 people pardoned on Monday by President Nicolas Maduro, in 2018 after he led a protest to demand the Socialist leader defend Venezuela’s once-potent steel industry. By Angus Berwick, Maria Ramirez. Full Text-> Reuters

The Venezuelan government said Monday it would pardon more than 100 political opponents who had been targeted for prosecution in what would amount to the country’s largest political amnesty in almost a decade. The move came as President Nicolás Maduro tries to break an opposition boycott of coming congressional elections. By Anatoly Kurmanaev. Full Text -> TheNewYorkTimes

This deliberate silence of sectors related to the Bolivarian revolution shows shameful complicity with the captors of the labor leader. The journalist Andrés Cañizalez, on the occasion of the XXV Forum in Sao Paulo, coined the term ‘caviar left’ (in reference to the European concept ‘gauche caviar’) to describe those who claim to be progressives but in reality, live in a bubble of comfort, distant from the people and from the victims they allegedly help. Rubén González is a leftist worker ignored by much of the left. By Carlos Patiño. Full Text-> OpenDemocracy

The families of six US oil executives detained in Venezuela are pleading for their release as concerns mount over their health amid the global coronavirus pandemic.The “CITGO 6” — Tomeu Vadell, Gustavo Cardenas, Jorge Toledo, Alirio Jose Zambrano, Jose Luis Zambrano and Jose Angel Pereira — have been detained in Venezuela without trial since November 2017. By Jennifer Hansler. Full Text-> CNN

A Utah man held in a Venezuelan prison for nearly two years is offering never-before-heard details about the conditions inside El Helicoide. The latest episode of “Hope In Darkness: The Josh Holt Story” focuses on the prison itself — a building never meant to hold inmates. By Becky Bruce. Full Text-> KSLNewsRadio