Published at: 04/03/2026 09:00 PM

(Latest News, January 2, 2008)

• In his presidential address to welcome the New Year 2008, the Constitutional President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Hugo Chávez Frías, once again, surprised with his magnanimity in granting the benefit of General Amnesty or Presidential Pardon to any detainee who was involved in politically motivated crimes.
• General Amnesty, as a necessary step to summon all political forces to reconciliation and peace, was granted on that occasion, to all political cases related to the coup d'etat of April 11, 2002 and the oil strike of the same year.
• Thus, in a surprising way, Hugo Chávez, a few hours before the end of 2007 and to begin in a democratic spirit in 2008, announced the entry into force of a General Amnesty Law.
• The courts in the case, in compliance with the presidential decree, thus initiated the appropriate procedures to proceed with the release of all prisoners and the dismissal of all cases brought for such reasons, as established in Article 5 ejusdem.
• Commander Chávez announced that “there is no benefit to those who are fugitives from justice... they are not protected (...) That's enough, it's a matter of turning the page... we want a country that marches towards peace”.
• In its Article 1, amnesty was granted to all persons who were in law and were therefore being prosecuted for the crimes of:
• Illegitimate deprivation of liberty of the Minister of Internal Relations, Ramón Rodríguez Chacín.
• Drafting and signing of the de facto government decree of April 2002.
• Criminal acts related to events in the governorate of the state of Mérida.
• For the commission of the crimes of incitement to commit crimes and military rebellion.
• For the events that occurred in Puente Llaguno.
• For the takeover of the Mayor's Office of the Junín Municipality of the state of Táchira.
• For the assault on the residence of Congresswoman Iris Varela.
• For the assault on the premises of the Palace of Justice in the state of Táchira.
• For the assault on the Venezuelan Television (VTV) television plant.
• That same night, Hugo Chávez also announced pardoning 36 Venezuelans who were serving time “for different reasons. These citizens will be released for humanitarian reasons.”
• This occasion was also propitious to announce a process of review in the management of State institutions and entities, to optimize government management by applying the principle of the “Three R's”, Review, Rectification and Reimpulse, according to the thesis of the Permanent Revolution of the leader Alfredo Maneiro, founder of the Radical Cause (CR) party.
• “There are latent flaws in sight,” stressed the president, calling on his work team and the people to participate in the Review of the Bolivarian Revolution.

Mazo News Team