Carrie Conn

The amnesty law grants a pardon for certain crimes committed since 1999 when socialist leader Hugo Chavez came into power.

Interim leader Delce Rodriguez said the bill shows the government is, quote, "...letting go of a little intolerance and opening new avenues for politics in Venezuela."

While hundreds could be released, human rights advocates say the amnesty doesn't go far enough, includes too many exemptions, and its judicial process is flawed.

Judges of Venezuela's court system, run by Maduro loyalists, would have to approve any amnesty.

Opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa, held under conditional release since being freed earlier this month, says he has been totally freed since the signing of the bill.

Carrie Conn, NPR News, Rio de Janeiro.

Three, quote, lethal kinetic strikes were launched against vessels operated by designated terrorist organizations.

According to the military, Southcom says intelligence confirmed that the boats struck were transiting no-narco-trafficking routes and were engaged in narco-trafficking operations.

The military did not provide its intelligence or evidence.

Of the 11 men killed, the military says eight were killed on two different boat strikes in the eastern Pacific and three more on a third vessel in the Caribbean.

The U.S.

says no military forces were harmed.

To date, the U.S.

has killed at least 144 people in 42 strikes in operations many legal experts say are unlawful.

Carrie Conn, NPR News, Rio de Janeiro.

Machado has tried to win back Trump's support, heaping praise on him in media interviews and pledging to share her Nobel Peace Prize.

But Trump has signaled for now his support is solidly behind Venezuela's interim leader, Delcy Rodriguez, with whom Trump says he recently had a good conversation.

Machado's political party is widely seen as the legitimate winners of the 2024 presidential election that then-leader Nicolás Maduro claimed to have won.

Machado led huge protests and, according to multiple recent polls, remains widely popular inside Venezuela.

Carrie Conn, NPR News, Rio de Janeiro.