CARACAS, Venezuela — The Venezuelan government freed 20 jailed activists Friday who opponents of the socialist administration considered political prisoners, human rights advocates said. Officials arrested them earlier this year while protesting power outages, said Laura Valbuena, a lawyer with the rights group Foro Penal. In his speech, Maduro urged pro-government lawmakers to let some detainees go in a gesture to reunite politically fractured Venezuela. Foro Penal’s director, Alfredo Romero, said the government still holds more than 350 people who are deemed political prisoners by foes of Maduro. Romero said that in the last several days, officials had arrested 25 other critics of the government, many from the ranks of Venezuela’s military.

Source: National Post May 25, 2018 18:51 UTC