Freed Venezuelan Activist Vows to Continue Fight for Democracy After Maduro's Downfall
Jesús Armas was sleeping inside Venezuela's most infamous political prison, El Helicoide, when a thunderous explosion and sudden blackout announced the beginning of a new era in early January. The activist vividly recalls roars of excitement echoing through the jail's cells as confused guards scrambled around "like something really big was happening." Prisoners spontaneously began singing Venezuela's national anthem, a powerful battle cry against tyranny that filled the corridors with defiant energy.
The Moment of Realization
Armas and his fellow inmates had no initial understanding of what caused the pre-dawn commotion on January 3rd, though some speculated about possible United States involvement. Only three days later, during a rare family visit, did the 39-year-old activist learn the stunning truth: Venezuela's authoritarian president Nicolás Maduro had been captured during a nocturnal assault ordered by Donald Trump.
"In that moment I realized... we had a real opportunity to have a transition to democracy," Armas revealed last week after being permitted to leave El Helicoide prison following 14 months of incarceration. He was among more than 440 political prisoners freed in the aftermath of Maduro's dramatic downfall.
Navigating a Complex Transition
Four days after his release, Armas was still processing the most startling development in Venezuela's turbulent recent history and contemplating how it might shape the country's future. "It's weird," he admitted while preparing to attend the latest pro-democracy protest since Maduro's removal. "We are not totally in a transition, but I think we are a few steps in that direction."
Just two months earlier, at the height of Maduro's increasingly despotic rule, such public displays of defiance would have been unimaginable and likely crushed by security forces. Throughout 2024, more than 2,400 people—including Armas, who was abducted and tortured by armed men—were imprisoned as Venezuela's dictator attempted to silence allegations that he had stolen the presidential election.
Shifting Public Sentiment
Since Maduro's removal, the national mood has undergone a significant transformation, with recent polls indicating a surge in optimism among Venezuelans after years of repression, deprivation, and despair. Last week, Armas joined thousands of predominantly young demonstrators gathering in cities across Venezuela to demand a complete transition to democracy and the total emptying of political prisons.
"I have the right to be in the streets and that's why I'm here," declared 21-year-old María Fernández, who participated in a rally on the palm-dotted campus of the Central University of Venezuela. Agustín González, a 20-year-old law student, explained he was marching because he wanted neither "imperialist tutelage nor continued authoritarianism" for his homeland.
The Political Landscape After Maduro
The incomplete nature of Venezuela's democratic restoration following Maduro's toppling stems from the immediate succession of his vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez, a UCV alumna who assumed control after his departure. Trump administration officials determined that leaving Venezuela under Rodríguez's leadership, rather than installing Nobel-winning opposition leader María Corina Machado, represented the optimal approach to prevent violence while securing access to Venezuela's substantial oil reserves following the surgical strike on Maduro's military base.
"Delcy has done a very, very good job and the relationship is strong. The oil is coming out and a lot of money is being made," Trump remarked on Friday after his energy secretary, Chris Wright, traveled to Caracas—marking the most senior U.S. official visit in years.
Persisting Authoritarian Structures
Six weeks after Maduro's abduction, Rodríguez remains in power alongside many key figures from his regime, including Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López. In a rare interview with NBC News last week, Rodríguez insisted free and fair elections would "absolutely" occur but declined to specify a timeline. Her brother, National Assembly Chief Jorge Rodríguez, further dampened hopes for an "immediate" electoral process.
Armas possesses particularly acute insight into the bewildering disconnect between the undeniable changes precipitated by Maduro's overthrow and the simultaneous preservation of Venezuela's undemocratic status quo.
The Emotional Rollercoaster of Freedom
On February 8th, Armas remembers El Helicoide's director approaching him with life-changing news: "Jesús, come with me... you're getting out." Hours later, intelligence agents transported Armas to his family home for an emotional reunion with his 90-year-old father, whom he feared might die during his incarceration. "He didn't say anything. He just cried," the opposition leader recalled of their first embrace in months.
Shortly afterward, Armas was cruising through Caracas's streets in a motorcycle convoy alongside colleagues including recently released opposition politician Juan Pablo Guanipa. "It was amazing... People were screaming [with] excitement," he remembered.
The Limits of Political Thaw
The euphoria proved fleeting. As darkness fell, armed individuals seized Guanipa and disappeared with him before he reappeared under house arrest wearing an ankle monitor. "I was in shock," Armas confessed, immediately comprehending the boundaries of Venezuela's incipient political thaw. "I thought: 'OK, if this is happening to Juan Pablo, it's going to happen to me too.'"
Armas suspected senior officials had become alarmed by the emotional outpouring accompanying Guanipa's release and feared demands for democracy might escalate uncontrollably without establishing limits. "They must be worried this could grow as people lose their fear... that this could be like a snowball that will grow and grow and grow," analyzed the activist, who returned to Caracas in 2021 to continue his political struggle after studying at the University of Bristol as a Chevening scholar and residing in London.
Commitment to Continued Struggle
Armas believes regime efforts to obstruct a South American glasnost by targeting figures like Guanipa—released on Thursday after the national assembly approved a limited amnesty law—might decelerate but cannot ultimately halt the march toward democracy.
"Right now my role is to lead the reorganisation of the opposition movement in Caracas and to try to be the voice of the political prisoners," he affirmed. "I'm going to fight until every political prisoner is free... And I will try to fight until we have a transition to democracy."
