Ramón Guanipa says he has only been allowed to visit his father once since the older man was arrested.
Juan Pablo Guanipa went into hiding after being accused of terrorism and treason for challenging the result of the 2024 presidential election. That vote was lacked “basic transparency and integrity”, according to the UN, and was denounced as rigged by the US which did not recognise Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate leader.
For his comments, Juan Pablo Guanipa was tracked down by Venezuelan security forces and detained in May 2025.
After hearing about the planned prisoner release, Ramón Guanipa took the first available flight from Maracaibo, in the west of the country, to Caracas.
“When they tell you they’re going to release your family, everything else becomes small,” he explained.
But when his father was not among those freed, he felt “defeated”.
“But at the same time, you find another reason to fight. I’m fighting for them [the interim government] to actually do what they say they’re going to do.”
The Venezuelan government has not commented on the pace of the releases, and the attorney general has declined a BBC interview request.
The developments are being viewed as the first test of Trump’s influence in Venezuela following the removal of Maduro.
Interim President Delcy Rodríguez has appeared to welcome co-operation with the Trump administration, but her public statements have condemned any form of US intervention.
The government’s announcement about prisoner releases came a day after Trump said that the Venezuelan authorities would shut down El Helicoide, the country’s most notorious prison.
El Helicoide was originally designed to be a shopping centre and a symbol of Venezuela’s oil-fuelled prosperity, but became a fortress of political repression under Maduro.