Venezuela’s Interim President Announces Plan to Dismantle Urban Police Checkpoints

Venezuelan Interim President Delcy Rodriguez announced plans to remove police checkpoints from urban areas in the country, marking a significant shift in law enforcement operations. The declaration comes amid ongoing scrutiny of the government’s handling of political detainees and allegations of widespread abuses at checkpoint locations.

Diego Casanova, director of the Committee for Political Prisoners, expressed measured optimism about the proposal while acknowledging deep skepticism regarding its actual implementation. Casanova’s own brother, Jose Gregorio Perez, was detained at a checkpoint in 2024 and remained imprisoned until his release in January, fueling concerns about the security apparatus’s tactics.

The checkpoints have long served as flashpoints for human rights violations, functioning as sites of extortion and systematic repression according to advocacy groups. Casanova has consistently led demonstrations demanding the release of all individuals classified as political prisoners by international observers.

Javier Tarazona, a human rights monitor with Fundaredes who spent nearly five years in detention himself, welcomed the announcement but called for concrete evidence of follow-through. He characterized the checkpoint elimination as a potential foundation for broader reconciliation efforts and called for a new amnesty law to free remaining detainees.

An amnesty law enacted in January has failed to address the scope of the detained population, with human rights groups estimating approximately 400 political prisoners remain incarcerated. The Venezuelan government continues to deny holding any political prisoners, creating a significant gap between official claims and independent assessments.