(The Center Square) – As the White House announced a takeover of Venezuelan oil following the ousting of President Nicolás Maduro, another set of priorities emerged in south Florida, home to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans.
Lawmakers and advocates for those who have fled Maduro’s regime urged the release of prisoners it has detained for opposing the government. They also called for the removal of his allies, who remain in power.
“Immediately what I’d like to get done is get all the political prisoners out of prison,” Sen. Rick Scott, a Republican, said Wednesday after the administration briefed Congress on its plans. He noted the list includes María Oropeza, who worked on the opposition party’s 2024 campaign.
The Venezuelan government said Thursday it would release an “important number” of political prisoners, including foreigners.
A timeline for elections that could usher in a new regime has not been given, but Scott said the transition is “going to take a while.”
The White House has been more specific with its plans for Venezuela’s oil.
The South American nation will turn over between 30 million and 50 million barrels, to be controlled “indefinitely” by the U.S., Energy Secretary Chris Wright said. A fact sheet released by the administration cited plans to roll back sanctions “selectively” to facilitate the selling of oil and to partner with commodity traders and banks to market it.
On social media, President Donald Trump said the oil “will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!”
VEPPEX, the Organization of Politically Persecuted Venezuelans in Exile, a south Florida-based advocacy group, urged the U.S. to seek the release of all political prisoners without conditions.
“Currently, dozens of people remain detained for exclusively political reasons. Their immediate and unconditional release is an indispensable step to generate trust and advance toward any process of democratic normalization in the country,” the organization posted on X.
The group also called for the ousting of Maduro hard-line loyalist Diosdado Cabello, the Venezuelan interior minister who oversees its police and prisons and was named alongside Maduro in the Justice Department indictment.
“As long as he retains veto or sabotage capacity, any transition will be extremely fragile and reversible,” the organization said.
U.S. Rep. Carlos Giménez, R-Florida, reiterated his distrust of Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s vice president who was sworn in on Monday as the country’s interim leader.
But if María Corina Machado, the exiled opposition leader whose party organized a winning presidential bid in 2024, immediately returned to lead the country, “it might actually create chaos,” he told CNN.
“We need a process to get to that,” Giménez said.
