{"id":86775,"date":"2026-02-11T18:23:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T17:23:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/?p=86775"},"modified":"2026-02-11T18:29:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T17:29:31","slug":"bishops-of-venezuela-finally-speak-out-following-maduros-arrest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/2026\/02\/11\/bishops-of-venezuela-finally-speak-out-following-maduros-arrest\/","title":{"rendered":"Bishops of Venezuela finally speak out following Maduro\u2019s arrest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Many were expecting a statement from the Venezuelan bishops following Venezulan leader Maduro\u2019s arrest. In an interview with Rome Reports on January 23, journalist Edgar Beltr\u00e1n explained the possible reason for the bishops\u2019 conference\u2019s silence

<\/em>EDGAR <\/strong>BELTR<\/strong>\u00c1N<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vatican Correspondent, The Pillar<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not to say that they don't speak of the situation, but they're more careful. They usually, with exceptions, they usually speak as a body. So, usually, they publish joint pastoral letters in which they usually denounce the human rights situation in the country, they speak of this. They call for freedom for elections, for example, usually as a bishop's body.<\/em>

And it appears that Beltr\u00e1n was right. On February 9, after their plenary assembly, they published a letter entitled \u2018Your Light Will Break Forth Like the Dawn.\u2019


<\/strong>Since the United States captured Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, uncertainty, concerns, and fears about Venezuela\u2019s future have continued within the society.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


ARCHBISHOP JES\u00daS GONZ\u00c1LEZ DE Z\u00c1RATE
President, Venezuelan Bishops\u2019 Conference<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The events of January 3 of this year have profoundly changed the political and social landscape. Although they have been interpreted as a violation of international law, many believe they open paths toward achieving democracy in the country.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Conference referenced Venezuela's variety of problems, from being scarred by poverty through the decades to perpetually facing turbulent political crises.

ARZ. JES\u00daS GONZ\u00c1LEZ DE Z\u00c1RATE
President, Venezuelan Bishops\u2019 Conference<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent years, the lives of Venezuelans have been marked by widespread poverty; the lack of opportunities for fairly paid work; generalized and unpunished corruption; and violations of human and civil rights, including freedom of expression and the right to due process and defense.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Added to this is the dire situation related to political prisoners. According to various NGOs, although many still remain in prison, around 300 people have already been released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ARCHBISHOP JES\u00daS GONZ\u00c1LEZ DE Z\u00c1RATE<\/strong>
<\/em>President, Venezuelan Bishops\u2019 Conference
Today, we once again wish to express our closeness and solidarity, as we have done on other occasions, with political prisoners and their families.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the bishops had previously spoken about was the elections. From the very beginning, they called for the will of the people to be respected, and they now reiterate this once again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ARCHBISHOP JES\u00daS GONZ\u00c1LEZ DE Z\u00c1RATE<\/strong>
President, Venezuelan Bishops\u2019 Conference
Popular sovereignty, expressed through universal, direct, and secret suffrage, was disregarded when the detailed publication of the results of the presidential elections of July 28, 2024, was omitted by the bodies of the State.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent months, Pope Leo XIV has not forgotten Venezuela either, continually expressing his closeness and encouraging dialogue and peace in his public appearances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AT<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many were expecting a statement from the Venezuelan bishops following Venezulan leader Maduro\u2019s arrest. In an interview with Rome Reports on January 23, journalist Edgar Beltr\u00e1n explained the possible reason for the bishops\u2019 conference\u2019s silence EDGAR BELTR\u00c1N Vatican Correspondent, The Pillar Not to say that they don't speak of the situation, but they're more careful. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":758,"featured_media":86771,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"acf":{"video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/OtphL34I9ho","video_descarga":"https:\/\/attuale.romereports.com\/news\/bvescovivenezuelaeng.mp4","international_url":"https:\/\/attuale.romereports.com\/news\/bvescovivenezuelaint.mp4","type":"bn","newsletter":"si"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86775"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/758"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86775"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86775\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86784,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86775\/revisions\/86784"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}