A chronological record of Venezuela's political news
Nightly protests with burning tires and pot-banging are spreading in Venezuela against power rationing of seven to 12 hours a day, as the oil sector opens to investment. According to Delcy Rodríguez, demand peaked at 16,400 megawatts in September, the highest since 2017; experts estimate the country generates about 12,000.
Voluntad Popular called the Amnesty Law an important step in the right direction, but said it leaves out important civilian and military cases, demanded that no one be excluded and urged the rebuilding of Venezuela’s judiciary.
Voluntad Popular denounced that political prisoners Roland Carreño and Freddy Superlano were taken out of El Helicoide in SEBIN vehicles to an unknown location, and demanded proof of life and their immediate release.
Voluntad Popular tells how the family of its leader Freddy Superlano, detained by the SEBIN on July 30, 2024, and held incommunicado in El Helicoide, has lived through a year without seeing or hearing from him.
The Maduro government confirmed on July 18, 2025, the release from prison of 80 political prisoners, under a deal with the US that included the return of 252 Venezuelans held in El Salvador's Cecot prison and the release of 10 Americans. They include Williams Dávila; prisoners' advocates demand full freedom for all.
The UN Human Rights Council extended on October 6, 2026, for two years the mandate of its independent fact-finding mission on Venezuela, by 25 votes to 5 with 17 abstentions. Its latest report says the repression apparatus remains in place after Maduro's fall; Venezuela's delegation opposed the renewal.
Voluntad Popular recounts the life of Edmundo “Pipo” Rada, its community leader in Petare, who disappeared on October 16, 2019, and was found burned and shot, a killing the party and his family attribute to his political activism.
Macarena González, daughter of Voluntad Popular leader and former Barquisimeto mayor Macario González, 73, denounced on Saturday his enforced disappearance after he was last seen on September 12, and demanded proof of life.
Rafael Del Rosario, coordinator of Voluntad Popular Colombia, met on Friday with UN officer Julia Pimentel at the High Commissioner’s office in Colombia and denounced enforced disappearances in Venezuela, including the case of José Riera.
Chavismo and the opposition agreed on August 12, 2026, at the close of the first US-backed dialogue round, to renew the entire Supreme Court bench through a new nomination process. They also agreed to jointly seek the recovery of Venezuelan gold held at the Bank of England.
VenAmérica said on June 28, 2026, that the State failed to respond to a national tragedy and demanded that those now in government step down to make way for a National Emergency Transitional Government, and called for peaceful civic protest.
Acting president Delcy Rodríguez replaced Vladimir Padrino López, defense minister for over 11 years, with General Gustavo González López, former head of the Sebin and DGCIM intelligence services, who is sanctioned by the US, Canada and Switzerland over human rights violations. Human rights advocates criticized the appointment.
Donald Trump announced on January 3, 2026, that US forces had captured Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and taken them out of Venezuela after a large-scale military operation. Delcy Rodríguez, then vice president, said she did not know their whereabouts and demanded proof of life.
In a joint statement, the Movimiento Ciudadano Venezolanos en el Mundo and VenAmérica said Delcy Rodríguez's speech at the UN General Assembly must not be taken as democratic legitimacy and urged the UN to demand verifiable human rights commitments.
Voluntad Popular backed the oil agreement between Venezuela and the United States, covering 17 oil fields, as a giant opportunity for the country, but warned that such an alliance only lasts if it rests on a legitimate government born of free elections.
CICIVEN said on July 31, 2026, that the announced denunciation of the Rome Statute by Venezuela's current authorities is null and void because they hold usurped offices, and asked UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to deny it any legal effect.
CICIVEN voiced indignation on May 7, 2026, that the ICC Prosecutor's Office has issued no summonses or arrest warrants in the Venezuela I investigation, opened in 2021, and urged the Court and its organs to act immediately.
Nightly protests with burning tires and pot-banging are spreading in Venezuela against power rationing of seven to 12 hours a day, as the oil sector opens to investment. According to Delcy Rodríguez, demand peaked at 16,400 megawatts in September, the highest since 2017; experts estimate the country generates about 12,000.
The official toll from the two June 24 earthquakes, of magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, reached 6,509 dead, National Assembly president Jorge Rodríguez reported on August 24, 2026; 25,240 homes are uninhabitable. The NGO Provea questioned the choice of a National Guard general as sole authority for the emergency.
A study by the NGO FundaRedes, presented on August 4, 2026, says 80% of public-school pupils suffer some degree of malnutrition, schools face a 74% teacher shortfall and 56% of students report suicidal thoughts. Its president, Javier Tarazona, called for the education minister's resignation.
An earthquake of magnitude 7.1, according to preliminary US Geological Survey data, struck central Venezuela on June 24, 2026, centered near Montalbán, Carabobo state. Injuries were reported in Guatire, and cracked buildings and evacuations in Caracas; there was no official toll yet.
María Corina Machado backed on social media Republican Senator Bernie Moreno's proposal, made in a Fox News interview, to hold Venezuela's presidential election on July 24, 2027, Simón Bolívar's birthday. There is no official call or announced electoral calendar.
Voluntad Popular national head Leopoldo López said on Monday in Madrid that Nicolás Maduro’s announcement that he would strip him of his Venezuelan nationality seeks to intimidate Venezuelans, and called the measure unconstitutional.
Ismael García, a Voluntad Popular deputy in the legitimate National Assembly, asked the Parliament on Tuesday to formally declare the Cartel de los Soles a terrorist organization, citing his complaints against it since 2005.
Voluntad Popular national head Leopoldo López told Spain’s ABC that Nicolás Maduro’s regime is going through internal purges and nervousness, and reiterated that Maduro leads the Cártel de los Soles.
