Caracas, Aug. 16 (SANA)Venezuelan Acting PresidentDelcy Rodríguezsaid Saturday that 1,046 people who had been detained were released as part of agreements aimed at advancingnational reconciliation.“Venezuela reaffirms its commitment to national reconciliation, as 1,046 citizens deprived of their freedom have returned home under agreements reached among Venezuelans,” Rodríguez said in a post on X.The announcement followed the government’s release of 131 political prisoners two days earlier, after a general amnesty issued in January and an agreement reached with opposition groups.The rights organization Foro Penal said it had verified the release of 72 of the 131 people announced by the government, including 55 men and 17 women.The releases came after a round of political dialogue between the government and several opposition parties, with U.S. mediation, focused on the country’s transition.Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado thanked U.S. PresidentDonald Trumpand his administration, saying the removal of former PresidentNicolás Maduroand his prosecution had paved the way for the release of political prisoners and broader freedoms for Venezuelans.Edmundo González, whom Machado considers the winner of the 2024 presidential election, called for the release of all remaining political prisoners and accountability for those responsible for their detention.“Those who regained their freedom yesterday should never have been imprisoned in the first place,” González said on X, adding that their release “does not erase years of imprisonment or their consequences for them and their families.”U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the release of more than 130 people in Venezuela as “a key step” in the national reconciliation process.Venezuela’s acting president announced on Jan. 31 a general amnesty law covering political violence dating back to 1999.