Trump Vows to Release All Venezuela Political Prisoners

(MENAFN) US President Donald Trump pledged Tuesday that Washington would secure the freedom of every remaining political prisoner held in Venezuela, asserting that the South American nation is already undergoing a sweeping economic and political overhaul.

"We're going to get them all out," Trump told reporters ahead of his departure for China. "As you know, we've already freed many political prisoners, and the rest will be released too."

Trump also extended rare praise to Acting President Delcy Rodriguez, declaring, "Delcy is doing a great job," before painting an optimistic — and unverified — picture of public sentiment on the ground. "the people of Venezuela are thrilled with what's happened. They can't even believe it. They're dancing in the streets," he said.

The president went further, tying the political shifts directly to surging economic activity driven by American energy giants. "And as you know, we have Exxon, we have Chevron, we have all of the big companies going in, and Venezuela now is making more money than they made in the last 45 years," he said.

The remarks follow Washington's execution of Operation Absolute Resolve on Jan. 3 — a sweeping military intervention in which US forces carried out extensive airstrikes across northern Venezuela, hitting air defense and communications infrastructure, while special operations units raided Caracas and detained President Nicolás Maduro alongside his wife, Cilia Flores.

The Trump administration has publicly justified the operation on multiple grounds: the revival of the Monroe Doctrine — the 1823 declaration asserting that the Americas fall outside the sphere of European influence — as well as allegations of narcotrafficking and corruption. Critics, however, note that the White House has simultaneously and explicitly linked the intervention to securing American strategic leverage over Venezuela's vast oil reserves.

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