Petare, a low-income neighborhood on the outskirts of Caracas, Venezuela, September 17, 2026.
(Washington, DC) – Venezuela needs to take urgent measures and carry out institutional reforms to protect people’s basic rights, Human Rights Watch said today, following its first official visit to the country since 2008.
Human Rights Watch visited Caracas this week and met with interim President Delcy Rodríguez, other government officials, human rights groups, members of the opposition, journalists, relatives of political prisoners, foreign diplomats, and others. Staff also visited Petare, a low-income neighborhood on the outskirts of Caracas. During its previous high-level visit, in 2008, Venezuelan authorities detained Human Rights Watch staff after they released a report and expelled them from the country.
“Interim President Delcy Rodríguez has overseen a pause to the most overt forms of repression in Venezuela,” said Federico Borello, deputy executive director at Human Rights Watch. “But in this fragile political moment, these gains will only become sustainable with robust institutional reforms and the release of all political prisoners.”
Rodríguez assumed office following the United States’ capture of then-President Nicolás Maduro on January 3, 2026. Since then, Venezuelan authorities have released hundreds of political prisoners, passed an amnesty law, unblocked some media websites, and announced measures to reform the judiciary.
Human rights activists, opposition leaders, and journalists told Human Rights Watch that they are much freer to carry out their work. Some said they have left their hiding places after more than a year or reported for the first time on the arbitrary arrest of their loved ones. On September 18, Venezuelan authorities closed a criminal case against Carlos Correa, executive director of the free-speech organization Espacio Público.
