Venezuela's acting president vows to continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez said Wednesday her government would continue releasing prisoners detained under former President Nicolás Maduro's rule in what she described as “a new political moment” since his ouster by the United States earlier this month.

It appeared to be an understatement for the Maduro loyalist now tasked with placating an unpredictable American president who has said he will “run” Venezuela, while also consolidating power in a government that long has seethed against U.S. meddling.

Rodríguez opened her first press briefing since Maduro's capture by U.S. forces with a conciliatory tone. Addressing journalists from a red carpet at the presidential palace in the capital, Caracas, she offered assurances that the process of releasing detainees — a move reportedly made at the behest of the Trump administration — “has not yet concluded.”

The lawyer and veteran politician pitched a “Venezuela that opens itself to a new political moment, that allows for ... political and ideological diversity.”

A Venezuelan human rights organization estimates about 800 political prisoners are still being detained. That figure includes political leaders, soldiers, lawyers and members of civil society.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was seized and flown to the U.S. on Jan. 3 to face drug-trafficking charges.

“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump said during a bill signing in the Oval Office. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”

Unlike past speeches directed at her domestic audience that echoed Maduro’s anti-imperialist rhetoric, Rodríguez did not mention the U.S. — or the dizzying pace at which relations between both countries were evolving.

But she criticized organizations that advocate on behalf of prisoners’ rights. She pledged “strict” enforcement of the law and credited Maduro with starting the prisoner releases as a signal that her government meant no wholesale break from the past.

“Crimes related to the constitutional order are being evaluated,” she said, in apparent reference to detainees held on what human rights groups say are politically motivated charges. “Messages of hatred, intolerance, acts of violence will not be permitted.”

Flanked by her brother and National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez, as well as hard-line Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, she took no questions. Cabello, she said, was coordinating the prisoner releases, which have drawn criticism for being too slow and secretive.

Trump has enlisted Rodríguez to help secure U.S. control over Venezuela’s oil sales despite sanctioning her for human rights violations during his first term. To ensure she does his bidding, earlier this month, Trump threatened Rodríguez with a “situation probably worse than Maduro,” who is being held in a Brooklyn jail.

Maduro has pleaded not guilty to drug-related charges.

In endorsing Rodríguez, who served as Maduro’s vice president since 2018, Trump has sidelined María Corina Machado, the leader of Venezuela’s opposition who won a Nobel Peace Prize last year for her campaign to restore the nation’s democracy. Machado is scheduled to meet with Trump on Thursday at the White House.

After a lengthy career running Venezuela’s feared intelligence service, managing its crucial oil industry and representing the revolution started by the late Hugo Chávez on the world stage, Rodríguez now walks a tightrope, navigating pressures from both Washington and her hard-line colleagues who hold sway over the security forces.

“The regime, on one hand, wants to send a message within Venezuela that it still has complete control and the United States isn’t dominating,” said Ronal Rodríguez, a researcher at the Venezuela Observatory in Colombia’s Universidad del Rosario. “On the other hand, internationally it's sending a message of gradual progress with the release of political prisoners. ... They’re playing a game.”

Those tensions were on display in her speech Wednesday, which focused only on the issue of prisoner releases. Venezuela’s leading prisoner rights organization, Foro Penal, had verified at least 72 prisoners freed since her interim government raised hopes for a mass release with a promise to free a “significant number” of prisoners.

Foro Penal reported the release Wednesday of at least a dozen people imprisoned for political reasons, including political activist Nicmer Evans and Roland Carreño, a journalist and opposition member. Machado campaign staffers Julio Balza and Gabriel González were also freed Wednesday, the opposition leader’s party announced.

Within the past week, Rodríguez's government released U.S., Italian and Spanish nationals and opposition figures.

But it was Maduro who first started the process of releasing prisoners, Rodríguez insisted, apparently pushing back on White House claims that the prisoners were being freed due to U.S. pressure. She said Maduro oversaw the release of 194 prisoners in December because he “was thinking precisely about opening spaces for understanding, for coexistence, for tolerance.”

Without offering any evidence, Rodríguez also claimed that 406 prisoners had been released since December, meaning that her own caretaker government had freed 212 detainees. Foro Penal estimates that over 800 prisoners were still held in Venezuela’s prison system on political grounds, and has criticized the government's lack of transparency.

Rodríguez did not address those complaints. Instead, she slammed “self-proclaimed nongovernmental organizations” as having “tried to sell falsehoods about Venezuela.”

“There will always be those who want to fish in troubled waters,” she said, trying to present her first press briefing as an effort to counter false narratives and “let the truth be reported.”

Carlos Rojas, a journalist freed after 18 months in jail, prays with his partner, Francy Fernandez, on the day of his release from prison at La Candelaria Church in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

A woman who lives near the Cardon refinery hangs clothes to dry in Punto Fijo, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Supporters of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro rally calling for his release as he faces trial in the United States after being captured by U.S. forces, in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, right, wave before making a statement at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Carlos Rojas, a journalist freed after 18 months in jail, prays with his partner, Francy Fernandez, on the day of his release from prison at La Candelaria Church in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Relatives and friends of political prisoners hold banners and candles calling for their loved ones to be set free outside the Rodeo I prison in Guatire, Venezuela, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026 after the government announced prisoners would be released. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Narwin Gil cries as she waits for news of her detained sister, Marylyn Gil, outside El Helicoide, headquarters of Venezuela's intelligence service and a detention center, in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Mileidy Mendoza, center, waits at Zone 7 of the Bolivarian National Police, where her fiancé Eric Diaz is being held as a political detainee in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, after the government announced prisoners would be released.(AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Students lay out photos of people they consider political prisoners at the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez, center, smiles flanked by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, right, and National Assembly President, her brother, Jorge Rodriguez, as they prepare to make a statement at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

CAIRO (AP) — Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have so far remained on the sidelines as the Iran war widens across the Middle East, raising questions about why — and when the battle-hardened group might join the fight.

Iran has retaliated against the United States and Israel with missiles and drones, targeting American military bases and other locations in Gulf Arab countries, disrupting trade routes, choking fuel supplies and threatening regional air traffic.

Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, suggested on Thursday in his first written statement since succeeding his father, who was killed in the war's opening salvo, that Iran may open up new fronts in the conflict — a sign, analysts say, the Houthis may get involved soon.

Until now, the Houthis have been reluctant to fight, fearing assassinations of their leaders, internal divisions in Yemen and uncertainties over weapons supplies, the experts said.

But that may change as Iran seeks to increase pressure on global oil supply routes through potential attacks by the Houthis, who have had previous success targeting oil facilities in the region, the analysts said.

Iran has asserted its influence across the Middle East through its proxy forces in Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen's Houthis.

Some of its closest allies have already joined the conflict, with Hezbollah resuming strikes on Israel within two days of the attack on Iran — and just 15 months after the last Israel-Hezbollah war ended in a November 2024 ceasefire. Militias linked to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq have claimed drone strikes on U.S. bases in Irbil.

Meanwhile, the Houthis have only held protests and issued declarations condemning the Iran war, in contrast to the waves of missile and drone attacks they launched on Israel and shipping in the Red Sea after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel sparked the war in the Gaza Strip.

Here’s a look at the Houthis’ military capabilities and where they stand in the conflict.

Armed by Iran, the Houthis seized most of Yemen’s north and its capital, Sanaa, in 2014, pushing the country’s internationally recognized government into exile. A Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s government entered the conflict the following year, and the Houthis have since fought a long-running but largely stalemated civil war in Yemen.

While the Houthis share some political and religious ties with Iran, they follow a different doctrine of Shiite Islam and are independent of Iran’s supreme leader, unlike the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group and several Iran-backed Iraqi militias.

Still, they are key to Iran’s regional influence and the current war is unlikely to weaken that, according to Ahmed Nagi, a senior Yemen analyst at the International Crisis Group think tank.

“From Tehran’s perspective, the Houthis have proven themselves to be a capable and effective front, able to generate real pressure,” Nagi said.

He said the Houthi leaders' decision to distance themselves from the conflict is a calculated choice that has been fully coordinated with the Iranians.

Two Houthi members of the group's media and political offices told The Associated Press that the rebels' weapons stockpile is running low after its attacks during the Israel-Hamas war. The Iran war has further impeded the flow of weapons, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to talk to the media.

Still, the group has a large stockpile of drones, said another official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the weapons issue, about which he is well-informed.

Nagi said the Houthis appear to be building up their forces by recruiting more fighters, relying on local weapons production and sending reinforcements to Yemen’s western coastline on the Red Sea, signaling they are preparing for escalation.

“The decision is not about unwillingness to intervene, but about timing," Nagi said. "Iran’s broader strategy seems to be to avoid throwing all its cards on the table at once, instead using its partners and capabilities gradually as the confrontation evolves.”

The Houthis are likely to step in if the conflict widens, Nagi added, or if they perceive an existential threat to Iran, such as significant deterioration in military capabilities.

Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi has repeatedly emphasized the group is ready to intervene, claiming their “hands are on the trigger,” though its unclear what that involvement would entail.

″Houthis, of course, are always ready for any war,” said Farea al-Muslimi, a research fellow at the Chatham House think tank in London. “Some weaponry moved in different areas inside Yemen recently ... but it’s still not clear whether it's for a military escalation.”

If the Houthis enter the war, they will most likely resume attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, while also striking Israel, Nagi said. They could also join Iran's attacks on Gulf countries, targeting U.S. military assets and interests.

Attacks on vessels during the Israel-Hamas war upended shipping in the Red Sea, through which about $1 trillion worth of goods passed each year before the war. The rebels also fired drones at Israel.

Should the Houthis join the Iran war, their primary targets would likely be oil tankers, the analysts said, since shipping offers the most immediate pressure point and attacking it would signal escalation while impacting energy supply chains.

Attacks on oil installations could also be considered. The Houthis have previously struck oil facilities in Saudi Arabia during their long-running conflict against the Saudi-led coalition.

Meanwhile, U.S. military sites in the region might also become targets, Nagi said.

Abdel-Bari Taher, a political analyst and former head of the press syndicate in Yemen, said any decision to join the war is impacted by the internal situation in Yemen, including recent deadly clashes in south Yemen, public opposition in Sanaa to joining the war and heightened caution among Houthi leaders after high-profile assassinations.

The two Houthi officials from the group's media and political offices said the U.S. has sent warnings via Omani mediators against participating in the war. They said Houthi political and security leaders have also been alerted that their cellphones are under surveillance by the U.S. and Israel. Fearing potential Israeli assassinations, Houthi leaders have been instructed not to appear in public, the officials said.

″Despite these constraints and the complex domestic and regional dynamics, Houthi involvement in the conflict remains a possibility,” Taher said.

Al-Muslimi, the Chatham House analyst, said the Houthis don’t have the military capabilities or an internal Yemeni interest that would force them to join the war, and the group seems committed to a ceasefire with the U.S. that was brokered by Oman last year.

“They hope to fight, especially with Israel, but they can’t be the ones to fire the first shot,” al-Muslimi said.

He said the Houthis would likely need a local Yemeni cause to join the fighting — a reason that would strengthen support among their local base.

Notes al-Muslimi: The Houthis “are a local group that Iran uses and supports, but didn't create.”

Associated Press journalist Ahmed al-Haj in Aden, Yemen, contributed to this report.

Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, Iranian Ambassador to Egypt, prays in front of a a makeshift memorial for Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a major attack by Israel and the United States, at the Iranian embassy in Cairo, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Houthi supporters hold posters of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an attack by Israel and the U.S., next to a giant Iranian flag as they protest the war on Iran, in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)