Several high-profile cases — including military cadets detained over screenshots from the Call of Duty video game series, a woman jailed after confronting a pro-government influencer, and a taxi driver arrested for a private message — have become emblematic of the debate surrounding freedom of expression and policing practices in Venezuela.
The releases came after the approval of an amnesty law aimed at freeing people detained in politically sensitive cases, offering foreign audiences a window into how digital activity has intersected with criminal prosecutions in the country.
On 23 February 2026, authorities confirmed the release of 11 cadets from Venezuela’s Army Military Academy who had spent about 15 months in detention at El Rodeo I prison in Miranda state. The Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) accused them of conspiracy, allegedly based on screenshots of their online gameplay, according to relatives and the nongovernmental organization Foro Penal. Human rights advocates described the detentions as arbitrary and said the case illustrated the risks associated with online expression.
#ÚLTIMO Entre Febrero y Marzo del 2025 fueron detenidos 11 Cadetes de la Academia Militar del Ejército por jugar «Call of Duty» en su tiempo libre, (Si así como lo leen) los mismos fueron liberados este Lunes #23Feb exigiendo justicia y la libertad para el resto de los preso… pic.twitter.com/5SafsizIeF
— Andrews Abreu (@AndrewsAbreu) February 24, 2026
In the video, the released cadets chant “freedom” and “justice,” along with slogans such as “Who are we? Venezuela. What do we want? Freedom,” as they celebrate their release outside El Rodeo I prison after more than a year in detention under conspiracy charges linked to online gameplay
Another case drawing attention is that of Andreína del Valle Rodríguez, who was detained in January 2025 after confronting Argentine influencer Diego Omar Suárez, known as Michelo, in Caracas. Rodríguez was held for more than a year at El Helicoide, one of the country’s most notorious detention centers, and faced charges including terrorism, incitement to hatred and treason. Her relatives and rights groups argued that the accusations were disproportionate to the incident, which involved publicly questioning the influencer over content perceived as favorable to President Nicolás Maduro.
The amnesty process also led to the release of taxi driver José Vicente Romero Peña, arrested on 8 January 2026 in Miranda state after security officers allegedly reviewed his mobile phone and found a private WhatsApp message celebrating the reported capture of Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores during a U.S. military operation on 3 January. Authorities accused him of crimes under legislation against hatred and treason, while his family maintained that the message was part of a private conversation with no public call to violence.
These cases emerged amid a broader political shift following the passage of Venezuela’s amnesty law, approved on 19 February 2026 as part of efforts to address politically motivated prosecutions. The measure seeks to grant legal benefits to individuals detained in connection with protests, political activity or expression, although critics say its exclusions and implementation criteria remain unclear.
Government officials say the amnesty law covers 13 key political periods in Venezuela’s contemporary history dating back to 1999 and is intended to address cases linked to what authorities describe as “political violence.” While officials frame the measure as part of a national reconciliation effort, human rights organizations argue that many of those eligible for release are political prisoners detained in connection with protests, dissent or digital expression.
According to Foro Penal, more than 540 political prisoners had been released nationwide since early January, including at least 91 following the law’s approval, while the government has described the initiative as a broader judicial review process.
Foro Penal vice president Gonzalo Himiob said in posts on X that the organization is still “consolidating data” on how the amnesty is being applied and warned that the main “bottleneck” in processing amnesty requests lies within the courts and the work of court-appointed public defenders. According to Himiob, many legal representatives have yet to request the law’s application for their clients and have even urged families not to seek support from nongovernmental organizations, raising concerns among rights advocates about delays and uneven implementation across the judicial system.
Acting president Delcy Rodríguez has also urged lawmakers to evaluate the use of clemency measures, including pardons and special legal remedies, for cases not covered by the amnesty law. Among those recently released under exceptional mechanisms was opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa — a close ally of Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado — whose case authorities said required a separate legal review outside the scope of the legislation.
International pressure and shifting U.S.–Venezuela ties
The releases have taken place amid growing pressure from Washington and a rapid shift in U.S.–Venezuela relations following the 3 January operation that reshaped the country’s political landscape.
In recent weeks, several senior U.S. officials have traveled to Caracas — including U.S. Southern Command chief Gen. Francis Donovan — while U.S. chargé d’affaires Laura Dogu has established a permanent diplomatic presence in the capital after arriving on 31 January to reopen the American mission, which had been closed since 2019. The renewed engagement reflects a cautious normalization of ties following years of frozen relations.
U.S. officials have framed these developments within President Donald Trump’s three-phase strategy for Venezuela, which broadly centers on stabilization and security coordination, economic recovery and reconciliation, and a longer-term political transition.
Analysts say the amnesty process and recent prisoner releases have taken place within this wider geopolitical context, as authorities in Caracas navigate internal reforms alongside intensified international scrutiny.
Digital speech, privacy and a law under scrutiny
For international observers, the controversy extends beyond individual stories to the legal framework governing digital expression. Venezuela’s Constitution, in Article 48, guarantees the secrecy and inviolability of private communications except by court order, a provision frequently cited by lawyers and activists questioning the legality of phone searches conducted during street checkpoints.
The country’s controversial anti-hatred law — approved in 2017 by a pro-government Constituent Assembly dominated by the ruling movement — has also come under renewed scrutiny.
Jorge Arreaza, a pro-government lawmaker and former vice president (2013-2016) who heads the National Assembly commission overseeing the amnesty process, acknowledged on 24 February that the legislation has sometimes been applied improperly and said security forces should not search citizens’ mobile phones during routine roadside checkpoints, highlighting debate within the political establishment over enforcement practices.
Human rights organizations argue that the prosecutions of the cadets, Rodríguez and Romero Peña reflect a broader pattern in which online speech, social media disputes or private digital content have become central elements in criminal cases. Other widely reported examples include two women — Génesis Pabón and Rocío Rodríguez — detained in August 2024 after printing T-shirts with anti-government imagery and later sentenced to 10 years in prison under the anti-hatred law before being released in January 2026, as well as the 2022 arrest of TikTok user Olga Mata over a satirical video mocking President Nicolás Maduro.
Despite the recent releases, advocacy groups say hundreds of detainees linked to political or protest-related cases remain behind bars, underscoring the limits of the amnesty initiative. For many Venezuelans, the stories of a video game, a street confrontation with an influencer and a private chat message have become symbols of a wider debate over civil liberties, digital privacy and the role of technology in the country’s justice system.
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La entrada From Call of Duty to private messages: Amnesty releases reveal some reasons people were detained in Venezuela se publicó primero en El Diario Venezuela – elDiario.com.
