political prisoner

Families of Colombians imprisoned in Venezuela gathered at a Colombia-Venezuela bridge hoping to appeal for the release of their relatives during a meeting that never happened. On Friday, relatives arrived at the crossing expecting to display signs requesting their relatives' release during a scheduled meeting between Colombia's president and Venezuela's acting president. But the governments abruptly canceled the meeting the night before.

The head of Venezuela's national assembly says a "significant number" of citizens and foreigners will be released from prison as a gesture to "seek peace." The announcement by Jorge Rodríguez on Thursday comes less than a week after former President Nicolás Maduro was captured by U.S. forces to face federal drug-trafficking charges in New York.

Earlier this week, 26-year-old Joshua Holt, who has been jailed in the South American country since 2016, uploaded a video to Facebook expressing fear that fellow inmates were trying to kill him.