CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela-based prisoners' rights group Foro Penal said on X Sunday that it had verified the release of 16 people since an amnesty bill for people in held for political reasons was signed into law this week.
That number is far below those given by National Assembly leader Jorge Rodríguez a day prior. On Saturday, he said that 1,557 applications were being processed immediately and that hundreds people deprived of liberty benefiting from the amnesty law were already being released.
Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez signed the amnesty measure into law on Thursday, signaling a major shift in policy following last month’s stunning U.S. military raid in the capital, Caracas, to capture then-President Nicolás Maduro.
It is expected to benefit opposition members, activists, human rights defenders, journalists and many others detained for months or even years.
But human rights organizations have reacted with distrust to the approval of the law, calling it insufficient because it leaves out, for example, imprisoned military personnel.
The new law also excludes those convicted of homicide, drug trafficking and serious human rights violations.
Days after Maduro’s capture, Rodríguez’s government offered to release a significant number of prisoners as a gesture to consolidate peace. Since then, a total of 464 people have been released but more than 600 remain detained, according to Foro Penal.
These releases did not grant full freedom but rather are a precautionary measure substituting imprisonment. Released detainees are banned from speaking to the press, leaving the country and participating in political activities.
The opposition has demanded an amnesty law which grants full freedom to political detainees.
The Venezuelan Red Cross in a statement on Sunday that it would accept the government’s invitation to accompany the release process stemming from the amnesty law.
Relatives of detainees they say are held for political reasons wait outside El Helicoide, headquarters of Venezuela's intelligence service and a detention center, after the National Assembly approved an amnesty bill in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Crisitian Hernandez)
VERONA, Italy (AP) — The Milan Cortina Olympics ended Sunday with a closing ceremony paying tribute to Italian dance and music inside the ancient Verona Arena, roughly mid-distance between the far-flung mountain, valley and city venues that made these the most spread-out Winter Games in Olympic history.
Some 1,500 Olympians filed into the arena waving small national flags to a rousing medley of Italian pop hits from the 20th century as the crowd sang along, taking their seats in the stone arena in places marked by green, red and white lights for the Italian flag.
The 2½-hour ceremony opened with a whimsical tribute to Italian lyric opera, with the stage director rousing not only the closing ceremony cast, including Italian singer Achille Lauro, but also long-dormant opera characters tucked away in crates within the amphitheater's tunnels.
On stage, Madama Butterfly in a bright pink and green costume and Aida in golden tiers were unpacked from mirrored crates while 17th century musicians played the joyous “Libiamo ne’ lieti calici” from La Traviata, a nod to the Arena's long history as the venue for a summer opera festival.
The opera characters, led by the jester Rigoletto, spilled out into the piazza outside, mixing with the bemused athletes who were flag-bearers for their countries, some ofwhom pulled out their phones to film.
In a key moment, the Olympic flame encased in a Venetian glass vessel was carried into the Arena by Italian gold medalists from the 1994 Lillehammer Games. The Olympic rings illuminated in white appeared high on the stone stairs behind the stage, flanked by national flags, when one raised the flame in the center of the stage.
This is the first Games for the International Olympic Committee president, Kirsty Coventry, a two-time Olympic champion in swimming, who watched the ceremony alongside Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Some 12,000 spectators joined the athletes and officials for the closing ceremony, which was much more intimate affair than the opening ceremony starring Mariah Carey and Andrea Bocelli inside Milan’s San Siro soccer stadium, attended by more than 60,000 people.
One of the key moments of the ceremony is when the Olympic flag is handed over to the next Winter Games host nation, France, and its flag is raised next to Italy’s and Greece’s.
The Milan Cortina Games spanned an area of 22,000 square kilometers (8,500 square miles), from ice sports in Milan to biathlon in Anterselva on the Austrian border, snowboarding and men’s downhill in Valtellina on the Swiss border, cross-country skiing in the Val di Fiemme north of Verona and women’s downhill, curling and sliding sports in co-host Cortina d’Ampezzo.
It’s a model that will remain for future Games, to avoid the expense of building new facilities. The 2030 Winter Games in the French Alps will stage events in the Alps and Nice, on the Mediterranean Sea, while speedskating will be held abroad in a venue to be decided.
The closing ceremony will conclude with the Olympic flames being extinguished at the unprecedented two caldrons in Milan and Cortina, to be viewed via video link. A light show will substitute fireworks, which are not allowed in Verona, to protect animals from being disturbed.
A total of 116 medal events have been held in eight Olympic sports across 16 disciplines, including the debut of ski mountaineering this year, over the course of 17 days of competition.
The Milan Cortina Paralympics' opening ceremony will also take place in the Verona Arena, on March 6, and the Games will run until March 15.
AP Winter Olympics coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, center, attends the closing ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Verona, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Artists perform during the closing ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Verona, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Performers participate in the closing ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Verona, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Violetta played by Carolina Lopez Moreno performs during the closing ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Verona, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Artists perform during the closing ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Verona, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
A view of the Arena ahead of the closing ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Verona, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Volunteers stand close to the Arena ahead of the closing ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Verona, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
A view of the Arena ahead of the closing ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Verona, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
