Category World News

At least 87 prisoners have been released as part of the president’s campaign to pressure Caracas, according to Donald Trump’s administration.

Even as he has accused Trump of trying to overthrow his government and seize Venezuela’s vast oil reserves, some observers have interpreted Maduro’s decision as a diplomatic effort.

On Thursday, two human rights organizations confirmed the release, the Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners and the Committee of Mothers in Defense of the Truth.

The Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners wrote on social media that “mothers and relatives reported new releases of political prisoners from Tocoron prison in Aragua state” in northern Venezuela.

The government of Venezuela had previously announced the release of 99 of its prisoners on December 25 as a “concerned expression of the State’s commitment to peace, dialogue, and justice.”

However, a prominent Venezuelan rights organization, Foro Penal, claimed it was unable to verify the release of 61 prisoners at the time.

In the vote held in July 2024, Maduro claimed victory, claiming to have won a third six-year term. The opposition has claimed that Edmond Gonzalez won by a landslide despite widespread fraud, and independent experts later verified the results.

Maria Corina Machado, the opposition leader, was removed from the race and replaced by Gonzalez. After months of hiding, Machado recently emerged in Oslo, Norway.

At least 28 people died and thousands of people were injured as a result of the disputed vote’s widespread protests throughout the nation.

At least 2, 000 people have been freed since their release, according to official records, and more than 700 are still alleged to have been held for political reasons.

The Trump administration’s pressure on Maduro, who they have accused of running a drug trafficking operation that aims to destabilize the US, has been bolstered by the disputed election.

Since August, the Pentagon has increased military assets off Venezuela’s coast, with Trump revealing the first attack on Venezuelan soil against a dock that allegedly served to load drug boats earlier this week.

In what rights groups claim amounts to extrajudicial killings, the US has also blocked sanctioned oil tankers’ entry and exit into Venezuela while simultaneously launching strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific.

In the current strikes, more than 100 people have died.

Machado has vehemently supported the US pressure campaign from exile. She has maintained that Venezuela has been “invaded” by “terrorist groups” and “drug cartels,” but has been more circumspect with her attacks on Venezuelan soil.

The child, identified as Youssef Ahmed al-Shandaghli, was killed by Israeli forces in the Jabalia an-Nazla area of the north of the territory, according to a medical source at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Thursday.

The boy’s death’s exact circumstances were not immediately known.

More than 400 Palestinians were killed and many others were injured in Israel’s continued attacks on Gaza in spite of a US-brokered ceasefire agreement that was signed in October.

Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinians there has also worsened already dire conditions there, which have also been largely reduced to rubble as a result of the country’s enclave’s already dire conditions.

A young girl died in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on Thursday from the extreme cold, according to local media outlets.

Separately, the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza reported that its teams had recovered the bodies of a mother and a child in the tent that had been a refuge for displaced people in the Yarmouk neighborhood of central Gaza City.

Because of Israel’s more than two-year-old war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian families have been living in overcrowded displacement camps and temporary homes across the strip.

To help families survive the dangerous winter conditions, the UN and human rights organizations have urged the Israeli government to allow tents, blankets, and other supplies into Gaza.

Despite growing international condemnation that its policy is putting Palestinian lives in danger, Israel has ignored the calls to lift its aid restrictions.

At least five Palestinian children died in Gaza in December as a result of a lack of adequate shelter, according to the UN’s child rights agency (UNICEF) earlier this week.

Ata Mai, a seven-year-old Palestinian boy, died on December 27 in a makeshift displacement camp northwest of Gaza City in the midst of heavy rain, wind, and freezing temperatures.

According to a statement from UNICEF’s Middle East and North Africa regional director Edouard Beigbeder, Ata went missing in the afternoon, and despite heavy machinery’s search and rescue efforts, his body was only found hours later.

All efforts must prioritize meeting this crucial need, according to Beigbeder, adding that “children in Gaza have endured enough and have the right to protection and safe shelter.”

Additionally, a full range of life-saving and life-sustaining supplies are urgently needed, including items that have previously been denied or restricted, on a large-scale basis.

Israel also made the warnings on Thursday, as it made the decision to impose a ban on international aid organizations that work with Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

37 aid organizations’ operating licenses have been suspended in Israel because they failed to adhere to new government rules that mandate detailed information on their staff, funding, and operations.

A severe economic crisis that has had a significant impact on their daily lives has caused thousands of Iranians to protest.

Iran’s economy has reached what many consider to be a breaking point, from a sharp decline in the value of the currency to a steep rise in inflation.

As protests continue, the government has resisted dialogue and has taken a different course this time.

What does the leadership have to offer as the nation struggles with long-standing sanctions?

What would happen if the protests became more severe?

Presenter: James Bays

Guests:

Researcher at the Center for Strategic Studies, Ali Akbar Dareini

Marzie Khalilian is a political analyst and academician.