Enrique Márquez freed after refusing to endorse Maduro’s 2024 victory

Enrique Márquez, a centrist opposition lawmaker and former presidential candidate, was released from prison on Thursday after spending about a year in El Helicoide, the Venezuelan secret police’s jail. Mr. Márquez became a target after he refused on state television to sign the official act confirming President Nicolás Maduro’s claimed 2024 victory, saying “I refuse to sign the act” and citing articles of Venezuelan law he said the ceremony violated.

Opposition-collected voting machine tallies, which The New York Times reporters and independent researchers said they had confirmed, showed Mr. Maduro had lost decisively. Months after that broadcast, Mr. Márquez was stopped by police while driving in Caracas and jailed; the government accused him of planning a coup, though he was never convicted.

He was released on Thursday along with seven other prominent political prisoners, and a video published by Venezuela’s press union showed him embracing his wife and saying, according to the outlet, “God bless you.” The release was described as the first tangible move by the interim government that took over after the U.S.

military removed Mr. Maduro on Jan. 3. Mr.

Key Topics

Politics, Enrique Márquez, Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, El Helicoide, Unitary Platform