Venezuelan Women Conclude 64-Day Protest at Caracas Detention Center After Amnesty Fails to Yield Prisoner Releases

Dozens of Venezuelan women ended a 64-day protest outside a police station in Caracas where their husbands and loved ones were detained, after an amnesty measure failed to result in the expected releases. Nelcy Escorcia held a sign reading 'Thinking differently isn’t a crime; isolating and torturing them is' during the protest outside a detention center in Caracas on Thursday, February 12, 2026.

Her husband, Franklin Parra, is being held on political grounds at the facility.

The demonstration drew as many as 30 participants, mostly wives and mothers, who camped out to pressure the government. The tent city outside the police station was taken down, and the women went home. The two main wives featured in the coverage are still trying to find ways to free their husbands.

@AP reported that the protest tested the participants' health and resolve. Regina Garcia Cano reported and wrote a story for The Associated Press about two women protesting the Venezuelan government over their husbands' detentions. Garcia Cano, along with video journalist Juan Arraez and photographer Ariana Cubillos, shadowed the women and others during the 64-day protest outside the police station in Caracas.

Juan Arraez interviewed many women protesting outside detention facilities and slept a few times at the camp where Mendoza and Rosales lived. The women, including Mendoza and Rosales, are the first Venezuelans to challenge the ruling party in the post-Maduro era. U.S.

Military deposed then-President Nicolás Maduro in January 2026. U.S. citizens in its prisons following the deposition. Five days after Maduro was captured, the government announced it would release a significant number of prisoners.

Acting President Delcy Rodríguez signed an amnesty measure into law weeks after the announcement of prisoner releases. The amnesty measure could benefit thousands of dissidents and opposition figures previously or currently detained. Dozens of women, mostly wives and mothers of detainees, began gathering outside police stations, jails, and prisons in Venezuela expecting releases after the amnesty measure.

Scores of women refused to leave and began camping out in front of detention facilities in Venezuela to pressure the government. Hundreds of Venezuelans are being held on political grounds, according to human rights groups. More than 2,000 people were detained after the 2024 presidential election in Venezuela.