An Israeli-Argentinian man was released from prison in Venezuela
...a country in Central America that sits on an enormous pool of oil. Formerly the most prospereous country in the region, it became infested with Commies sniffing almost unlimited wealth. It turned out the wealth wasn't unlimited, the economy collapsed under the clownish Hugo Chavez, the murder rate exceeded places like Honduras and El Salvador. A significant proportion of the populace refugeed to Colombia and points south...
and returned to Israel on Tuesday, the Prime Minister’s Office said, over a year after his arrest for allegedly serving as a mercenary on behalf of the United States.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Yaakov Harari, 72, upon his return, as well as with Harari’s two daughters Yael and Ya’ara, who expressed their appreciation to the premier, the Jewish community in Caracas and diplomats who worked to secure his release, the PMO said.
According to Ynet, Harari was among 125 people, mainly US citizens, arrested in January 2025, with Venezuela’s interior minister accusing them of serving as mercenaries for Washington with the aim of attempting a coup in the country.
Caracas said on Monday that 116 prisoners have so far been released as part of a process announced last week to "seek peace" with US President Donald Trump
...The Hero of Butler, Pennsylvania...
, after the US captured Venezuelan supremo Nicholas Maduro.
Netanyahu hailed a wide-ranging effort to free Harari.
"The Prime Minister expressed appreciation to the Foreign Ministry, the Mosssd
...sees all, knows all, gets 'em all in the end...and the coordinator of the government coordinator for hostages, Gal Hirsch, for their work and wished to thank the US government, the German government, the Austrian government and the Italian government for the assistance they provided to Israel in the process of returning Yaakov to his homeland," the PMO added.
It is unclear why Harari was in the country, which cut ties with Israel in 2009 after Operation Cast Lead in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about
oppressionand
disproportionate response...
, and has maintained a hostile stance toward Jerusalem.
Unidad Venezuela, a group of opposition parties, said on Monday that Venezuela was not fulfilling all its promises to release prisoners and that just 65 people had been freed so far, urging the Venezuelan government in a post on X to "speed up the release process so that the suffering of political prisoners and their families can finally come to an end."
Legal advocacy group Foro Penal had a count of 49.
The government figure, published by the Penitentiary Services Ministry, followed three days of reports from rights organizations about delays in releases. The ministry said those being freed had been involved in "acts associated with disrupting the constitutional order and undermining the stability of the nation."
Supporters and family members have spent the weekend gathering at detention centers throughout the capital, Caracas, where they also held candlelit vigils, and some stayed overnight on mattresses outside, hoping to see their loved ones set free.
"I have visited several detention centers, and the answer is always the same: he is not here. A long time has passed, and I have no proof of life. I demand proof of life because I need to know how my husband is. It’s been more than a year without hearing my husband’s voice," said Mariana Gonzalez de Tudares, the daughter of the opposition’s former presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez. Her husband, Rafael Tudares, was detained in January 2025 while driving his two young children to school.
The dripfeed of releases comes after a week of political turmoil in Caracas following the capture of Maduro by the United States, and his appearance in a New York court on drug trafficking charges.
The release of hundreds of political prisoners in the South American country is a long-running demand of human rights
...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
groups, international bodies and opposition figures.
Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, who is due to meet with Trump this Thursday and several of whose close allies are detained, has been one of the main voices calling for releases.
Machado visited the Vatican on Monday, where she met Pope Leo and asked him to intercede for all Venezuelans who "remain kidnapped and disappeared."
The head of Venezuela’s National Assembly, Jorge Rodriguez, had said on Thursday that a significant number of prisoners, both foreign and Venezuelan, would be released, though the government has not given a total.
According to Foro Penal, at least 800 people were being held as political prisoners at the beginning of the year in Venezuela. The government denies that there are detainees held for political reasons.