Qatar, Lula, Zapatero: Who were the key mediators in the release of prisoners in Venezuela?

Former Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, current Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the government of Qatar played a key role in securing the release of a significant number of political prisoners from the Chavista regime on Thursday. Their mediation efforts were acknowledged by Jorge Rodríguez, head of the Venezuelan National Assembly and until recently Nicolás Maduro’s chief advisor, who made the announcement on Thursday. This success is the culmination of years of secret talks at the highest levels and with the families, who kept hoping for an eventual release.

The pardon comes in a completely different political context than what it was just five days ago, when Maduro was still in power. His position is now held by Delcy Rodríguez, Jorge’s sister, who in these first few days has shown signs of openness. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated that the country is in a process of stabilization that will be followed by a transition, which could be interpreted as a call for elections. Jorge Rodríguez wanted to make it clear that the release of prisoners was not imposed by Washington, asserting that it was “a unilateral gesture to strengthen peace.”

Zapatero began to have a presence in Venezuelan politics in 2015, when the opposition invited him to mediate with the Chavista regime. The Spanish socialist leader approached this delicate matter with the experience of having successfully dismantled ETA, the Basque terrorist group, back home. His main focus throughout this time, according to those close to him, has been on the issue of political prisoners.

Zapatero has been heavily criticized by Spain’s political right and by Venezuela’s main opposition figure and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, María Corina Machado. Their positions are diametrically opposed. She believes in exerting economic and political pressure against Chavismo. Donald Trump’s involvement to this extent has been her doing, facilitated through her friend, Marco Rubio. Zapatero subscribes to the theory that it is better to build a new political reality through dialogue. He also played a key role in granting political asylum in Spain to Edmundo González Urrutia, the candidate who all indications suggest won the last presidential election against Maduro.

Lula da Silva takes a similar stance. Last year, the Brazilian president, along with Colombian President Gustavo Petro, attempted to bring the Chavista regime and the opposition together to begin a transition process after the elections. One of the proposed paths was for Maduro to step down with an amnesty, an offer later extended to him by the Trump administration. Petro and Lula insisted that Edmundo González, rather than Machado, be the opposition’s interlocutor, a move that generated considerable controversy and led to accusations that the presidents favored Chavismo.

Along with Zapatero and Lula, Jorge Rodríguez has also mentioned Qatar as a mediator. The Arab state has been offering to mediate between Chavismo, the opposition, and the United States for years. In June 2023, EL PAÍS revealed that Jorge Rodríguez met in Doha with Juan González, an advisor to Joe Biden. At that meeting, they laid the groundwork for organizing the presidential elections that would follow, elections intended to democratize the country through the ballot box. If Maduro won, he could demonstrate to the world that he was a legitimate president who could participate in multilateral organizations without being sidelined. Otherwise, Machado would assume power.

That didn’t happen, and the situation worsened. It culminated in Maduro’s capture in Caracas by U.S. special forces who killed his entire presidential guard before taking him to court in New York. What the new Venezuela will look like is still to be determined, but there are signs of change, such as this release of prisoners.

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