Acting President of Venezuela Delcy Rodriguez on Friday he announced a draft law on amnesty that could lead to the release of hundreds of prisonersincluding opposition leaders, journalists and human rights activists detained for political reasons.

The US-backed opposition has long sought the measure. It is the latest concession Rodríguez has made since taking power in the country on January 3 after the brazen usurpation of then-president Nicolas Maduro in the US Army attack in the capital of Venezuela, Caracas.

Rodríguez told the assembled judges, magistrates, ministers, military leaders and other government leaders that the ruling party-controlled National Assembly would urgently consider the bill.

“Let this law serve to heal the wounds caused by the political conflict fueled by violence and extremism,” she added in an event pre-recorded by television. “Let it serve to redirect justice in our country and let it serve to redirect coexistence among Venezuelans.”

This comes after the US Embassy in Venezuela also announced on Friday that all US citizens detained in Venezuela have been released.

“We are pleased to confirm that the interim authorities have released all known US citizens detained in Venezuela,” the embassy he said in a post on social networks. Secretary of State Marco Rubio republished news on your personal X account.

It was not immediately clear how many people were released. CBS News reached out to the State Department.

Earlier this month, hostage advocate familiar with the situation told CBS News that at least four Americans are still being held in Venezuela.

In July, 10 Americans were released from Venezuela as part of a prisoner exchange involving the US and El Salvador. The Americans were released in exchange for El Salvador returning 252 Venezuelans who had been deported from the US to the notorious El Salvador Terrorism Center, or BLIND

The US does not physically operate an embassy in Venezuela, having closed its embassy in Caracas in 2019. amid mass protests and political unrest. It has been working ever since its consular services from Bogota, Colombia. On call following the US capture of Maduro in early January, the Trump administration notified Congress this week that it would begin steps to reopen the embassy in Venezuela.

Laura to the Dogthe top US diplomat in Venezuela, traveled to Caracas on Saturday to meet with Venezuelan officials, Yvan Gil, Venezuela’s foreign minister, published on social networks. Gil said their meeting was “aimed at drawing up a plan to work on issues of bilateral interest, as well as resolving existing differences through diplomatic dialogue and on the basis of mutual respect and international law.”

Meanwhile, Rodríguez also announced the closure of Helicoide, a prison in Caracas where independent organizations have repeatedly documented torture and other human rights violations. The facility, she said, will be turned into a sports, social and cultural center for the police and surrounding settlements.

Rodríguez made the announcement in front of some of the officials accused by ex-prisoners and human rights activists of ordering the abuses committed in Helicoide and other prisons.

Relatives of some of the prisoners live-streamed Rodríguez’s speech by phone as they gathered outside Helicoide. Some were crying. Many chanted “Freedom! Freedom!”

“God is good. God heard us,” said Johana Chirinos, the prisoner’s aunt, as tears rolled down her face.

Leader of the opposition i Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado in a statement he said that the announced actions were not taken “voluntarily, but in response to pressure from the US government”. She also noted that people have been detained for their political activities for anywhere between a month and 23 years.

“The regime’s repressive apparatus is brutal and has responded to numerous criminal forces that correspond to this regime, and that’s all that’s left,” Machado said. “When repression is gone and fear is gone, that will be the end of tyranny.”

Venezuela-based prisoner rights group Foro Penal estimates that 711 people are held in detention facilities across the South American country for their political activities. Of these, 183 were convicted.

Among the prominent members of the political opposition who were detained after the 2024 presidential election and who remain in prison are former representative Freddy Superlano, Machado’s lawyer Perkins Rocha, as well as Juan Pablo Guanipa, a former governor and one of Machado’s closest allies.

The government did not release the text of the bill on Friday, leaving unclear the specific criteria that will be used to determine who qualifies for amnesty.

Rodríguez said the “general amnesty law” would cover “the entire period of political violence from 1999 until today.” She also explained that people convicted of murder, drug trafficking, corruption or human rights violations will not be able to get relief.

Rodríguez’s government earlier this month announced plans to release a significant number of prisoners as a goodwill gesture, but relatives of those arrested condemned the slowness of the release.

“A general amnesty is welcome as long as its elements and conditions include all civil society, without discrimination, so that it does not become a cloak of impunity and contributes to the dismantling of the repressive apparatus of political persecution,” Alfredo Romero, president of Foro Penal, said on social media.

The organization has tallied 302 issues since the January 8 announcement.

In a statement, the human rights group Provea called for a lack of transparency and a “dropping” pace of prisoner releases. It also stressed that while the release of those still in custody is “urgent, the announcement of amnesty should not, under any circumstances, be construed as a pardon or an act of clemency by the state.”

“We remind you that these people are arbitrarily imprisoned for exercising rights protected by international human rights instruments, the national constitution and Venezuelan laws,” the organization said.

Outside another detention facility in Caracas, Edward Ocariz, who has been detained for more than five months after the 2024 elections, joined relatives of prisoners in demanding the immediate release of their loved ones.

“All of us, Venezuelans, have suffered so much, all the injustices, mercilessness and trampling on our dignity. No one deserves this,” Ocariz said. “And today, the culprits continue to rule Venezuela.”