Among the prisoners who will now be released are people who have been "involved in proven crimes" but also those who are "minors, over 70 years old or suffering from an illness," said the speaker, who is also the brother of interim president Delcy Rodríguez.
The release comes in line with the country's new amnesty law, which Delcy Rodríguez signed in February of this year. The law has previously been described as the core of the reforms implemented by the interim president since the US overthrew and captured President Nicolás Maduro in January.
The rights organization Foro Penal reports that 800 prisoners have been released since the beginning of the year, some of them under the amnesty law. However, Venezuela's Interior Ministry says that 8,000 people have benefited from the new law.
