On 19 February 2026, the National Assembly unanimously approved the Amnesty Law for Democratic Coexistence. According to the text of the law, its main objective is to promote national reconciliation, democratic participation, and the reintegration into public life of those who benefit from it. The law extinguishes criminal liability and orders the termination of investigations, prosecutions, and penalties for individuals accused, prosecuted, or convicted of broadly defined political and protest-related acts committed within a specified timeframe. The law establishes a temporal scope of application from 1 January 1999, to 16 February 2026, the date on which it entered into force. However, despite covering a period of 27 years and 50 days, it only lists 13 events occurring in different years. Several organizations and experts have pointed out that the effective time span covered by the amnesty is very limited and is confined to the 13 specific events listed in Article 8.
The law expressly excludes crimes such as homicide, drug trafficking, corruption, serious human rights violations, and war crimes. It also excludes individuals accused of military rebellion. Some of these exclusions have been criticized by various civil society organizations, as several of these charges—such as terrorism, corruption, and military rebellion—have been used as instruments of political persecution.
Experts from the United Nations, international NGOs, and Venezuelan civil society have received the law with cautious optimism. In the case of UN experts, they emphasized that the law could be crucial for victims, their families, and Venezuelan society as a whole. However, they also warned that for reparations to be effective, it is imperative to explicitly recognize all individuals who have been arbitrarily deprived of their liberty for exercising their rights, as well as human rights defenders.
Likewise, and in response to both domestic and international pressure, several government spokespersons have publicly committed to reviewing all cases of individuals arbitrarily detained for acts not covered by the amnesty. Civil society and international organizations continue to call for the release of all persons detained for political reasons.
To date, the Commission designated to oversee the implementation of the law has reported that more than 8,000 people have benefited from it. However, several civil society organizations have stated that hundreds of individuals remain detained for political reasons. They have also documented refusals to apply the law, delays in the process, and a lack of clarity regarding how the law should be implemented.
