Venezuela and Cuba this week released political prisoners, including a free speech advocate, but analysts say the threat of legal action in authoritarian countries stifles media freedom.
In Venezuela on Thursday, Carlos Correa, director of the free speech organization Espacio Publico, was freed after a week in custody, his group reported.
Authorities had arrested Correa along with at least six others, including opposition politicians, ahead of President Nicolas Maduro’s inauguration last Friday.
“We thank all the people, organizations, governments and groups that joined the voice for [Correa’s] liberation. We continue to defend human dignity,” Espacio Publico said in a post on social media X.
Correa’s legal situation remained unclear. The journalist has appeared before an anti-terrorism court, his wife, Mabel Calderin, told reporters Thursday. Calderin said she had no information on the charges brought against her husband.
The Venezuelan Communications Ministry did not reply to an email from VOA asking for a comment about the release of Correa.
Correa has not replied to messages on social media from VOA.
Also, this week, Cuba released 127 activists as part of a deal with outgoing U.S President Joe Biden, who pledged to remove Havana from the U.S. list of terrorism sponsors.
Cash-strapped Cuba promised to free up to 553 people, many of whom the U.S. government considers as “political prisoners.”
Most were arrested for taking part in anti-government demonstrations in July 2021 over a series of power cuts, food shortages and price increases.
Prisoners Defenders International, a Madrid-based opposition group, estimates Cuba is holding 1,161 political prisoners. Five reporters remain behind bars and another five face legal restrictions on their freedom, Prisoners Defenders said. These restrictions vary from not being able to leave the island to serving sentences under house arrest.
None of those released on Wednesday are journalists, Prisoners Defenders International told VOA.
Civil society groups welcomed the releases in both countries but warn that the threat of legal action or jailing intimidates independent media.
In its annual report of jailed journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ noted that while few Latin American countries are detaining media workers, even a small number of arrests can create a repressive environment.
“That increased criminalization that we’re seeing of journalists is a deliberate tactic by governments to silence journalists, because they know that if there is a threat of being labelled a criminal or there is threat of imprisonment, many journalists will back off from that reporting,” Jodie Ginsberg, who heads CPJ, told VOA.
Globally, CPJ found 361 journalists behind bars for their work, the second highest number recorded by the organization since it began recording data in 1992.
Ginsberg said that in authoritarian Latin American countries, not many journalists have been jailed but this may show the success of repressive policies.
“So, in some cases, a low number of jailed journalists in a repressive regime is actually an indication of how successful that regime has been in repressing them. In Latin America and the Caribbean, what we see more often is physical attacks on journalists,” added Ginsberg.
The leader of Venezuela’s neighbor, Colombia, celebrated the release of Correa and called for all political prisoners to be freed in Latin America.
“When Cuba has released more than 500 prisoners, it is important for peace in the Americas that Venezuela releases all the people detained in the framework of the [presidential] election and the post-election, including the 12 Colombians detained in its territory,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro wrote in a post on X.
“May the Americas be a land of freedom without political prisoners,” he added.
Petro declined to attend Maduro’s inauguration amid widespread accusation that last year’s Venezuelan election was rigged.
Days before Maduro was sworn in for a third term, Caracas detained seven individuals that it described as “mercenaries,” including two Americans. However, the political party Popular Will said authorities have detained up to 19 people.
Witnesses saw Correa being bundled into a car by hooded figures, Espacio Publico said. The same week that he was detained, authorities arrested Enrique Marquez, a politician who ran in the 2024 presidential elections and later backed Edmundo Gonzalez as the victor.
Marquez, who is accused of trying to stage a coup against Maduro, remains behind bars.
The Venezuelan government is investigating major opposition leaders for alleged conspiracy, among other charges, and has repeatedly accused the opposition of inciting violence with its claims of victory in the presidential election in July.
The opposition published ballot box-level tallies which, it says, show a resounding victory for its candidate Gonzalez.
Gonzalez is recognized as president-elect by several countries, including the U.S. The Venezuelan government is offering a $100,000 reward for his capture.
Liam Scott contributed to this report.
