“It has been a tough road of the cross”

Mariana González, the daughter of the Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutiahas confirmed that her husband, Rafael Tudares Bracho, has received full freedom within the framework of the Amnesty Lawenacted last February and promoted by the Government of Delcy Rodríguez.

“Hard way of the cross”

González thanked all the people who accompanied her in “the hard way of the cross” that his family had to live through and that “they were supportive and humane in the moments of greatest pain, despair and uncertainty.”

“Sooner rather than later, it will be time to build the historical memory that our society needs in terms of human rights, so that situations like those experienced by Rafael, Mijos and I, as well as thousands of citizens, are not repeated again,” he added.

On January 22, Tudares Bracho was released after spending detained for more than a year. His family repeatedly stated that they did not know where he was detained.

Tudares was detained at gunpoint on January 7, 2025, three days before the inauguration of Nicolás Maduro for a third consecutive six-year term. He was taken out of his car, in front of his children, whom he was taking to school. Since then he was “kidnapped” by the Chavista regime.

Sentenced to 30 years in prison

Despite Delcy Rodriguez announced his release on January 22, he was still burdened by 30 year sentence which his family considers null and void due to lack of evidence.

In fact, before his release, his wife presented a public document in which he revealed the total arbitrariness of the trial against her husband, identifying a systematic pattern of political coercion that uses deprivation of liberty as a weapon of pressure.

In them, his family reported that The trial was a farce: without witnesses, without demonstrable facts and with the private defense prevented from accessing the file until a few hours before the hearing.

Tudares is the son-in-law of Edmundo González, currently exiled in Spain and who in 2024 was chosen as the unitary candidate of the opposition (Democratic Unitary Platform) for the presidency of Venezuela.

González was recognized by a large part of the international community as the winner of the presidential elections of July 2024, something that was rejected by Maduro, who was proclaimed the winner of those elections by the National Electoral Council (CNE).

The Parliament, controlled by Chavismo, approved on February 19 an Amnesty Law for the processes of political prisoners since 1999, but which will be specifically applied to 13 “events” that occurred in 13 different years, which excludes the rest of the established period, as well as cases related to military operations.

Until last Friday, Parliament counted 7,654 people benefited from the amnesty, of which 247 were released from prison and 7,407 who had precautionary measures already enjoy full freedom.