'Pause' on overt repression in Venezuela, but reforms still needed: HRW

Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodriguez has overseen a "pause" in the overt repression of opponents since taking office in January, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Friday, 18 years after the organization was expelled from the country.

Speaking after a meeting with Rodriguez, HRW said that Venezuelan activists, opposition leaders and journalists reported being "much freer to carry out their work" but said securing the gains required "robust institutional reforms and the release of all political prisoners."

Rodriguez's talks Thursday with HRW representatives was seen as a key moment in Venezuela's transition from the hardline socialist rule of ex-president Nicolas Maduro.

The New York-based rights group was thrown out of Venezuela in 2008 by Maduro's mentor and predecessor, the leftist revolutionary Hugo Chavez.

Maduro himself oversaw an increasingly authoritarian government, marked by two reelections widely dismissed as fraudulent.

He was captured by US forces in Caracas in January and flown to New York to face trial.

Since taking over, Rodriguez has pushed through a sweeping amnesty, released hundreds of political prisoners and closed the notorious El Helicoide detention center, where rights groups say inmates were tortured.

Her government has also announced plans to reform the judiciary and on Thursday unblocked some news sites that had been censored for years.

HRW said during its visit to Venezuela this week that its representatives had met with government critics who had come out of hiding after more than a year or dared report the arbitrary arrest of a loved one for the first time.

But it noted that at least 344 political prisoners remain behind bars, according to the count of a leading Venezuelan human rights group. and that many more remain under house arrest.

The organization also cited accounts of prisoners still being mistreated and urged the closure of another notorious prison, Rodeo 1.

The HRW team's visit to Venezuela came days before Rodriguez is expected to travel to New York to attend the UN General Assembly, a major step towards ending Venezuela's isolation on the world stage.

Some critics argue that with former Maduro loyalists still running the show, alongside the support of US President Donald Trump's administration, Venezuela cannot move on from its repressive past.

HRW noted that Washington had "focused largely on advancing the Trump administration's economic goals" in Venezuela since Maduro's ouster.

It called on Washington to "use its leverage to play a leading role in pushing for meaningful human rights change."

On Thursday, the interim government in Caracas began a new round of negotiations with an opposition faction on a political transition.

HRW echoed the opposition's calls for "timely, free, and fair elections."

"That urgently requires allowing political opponents to participate in the political process and run for public office," said Federico Borello, HRW deputy executive director.

"We know that the legislative and institutional apparatus of the last 27 years remains intact," he added.

The unexpected meeting between Rodriguez and HRW on Thursday was preceded by an announcement that dozens of news websites that had been censored in Venezuela for years were being unblocked.

Additionally, political dialogue with the opposition has resumed, with stated aims of improving freedom of expression and supporting a political transition post-Maduro.

The US-backed negotiations began in August, and a second round of talks is expected to conclude September 23.