BY : Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post Contributor
Venezuela has released Bishop Jylman Red Jurado Farfán from Rodeo III Prison in Miranda state after more than five years in custody that involved torture. He is reportedly among dozens of political prisoners freed by the Venezuelan government.
Bishop Jurado Farfán was one of 81 prisoners freed on Aug. 14, the United Kingdom-based group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) announced Wednesday.
“I bless God for the feeling and the desire that God placed in your hearts so that this liberation would be possible, where the Lord broke the chains of oppression, of fear, of torture, and gave us [physical] freedom,” the bishop wrote in a statement shared with CSW.
“We know that freedom is a precious gift that comes from the presence of the Lord, which is why I have learned from within, during five years and fifteen days, that every morning He showed His mercy, and everything that has breath praises the God of justice.”
Bishop Jurado Farfán serves in the Archdiocese of Venezuela of the Holy Spirit, part of the independent Latin American Anglican Church, based in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital. The church has no affiliation with the Church of England or the Global Anglican Communion.
Jesus Marcano, advocacy coordinator for Foro Penal, a Venezuelan human rights group that tracks political prisoners, confirmed the bishop’s release.
Venezuela’s government put the number of prisoners released at 131, while withholding the names of people it freed. Foro Penal cross-checks its own record of political prisoners, locates their families and gathers testimonies to confirm who has been released.
Officials arrested Bishop Jurado Farfán on July 30, 2021, days after summoning him under a false pretext. He faced charges of terrorism, criminal association and conspiracy, over accusations that his ministry activities were meant to destabilize the state.
Authorities kept his case file sealed for close to 10 months. Judges later suspended his trial once hearings had run for close to two years without prosecutors producing conclusive evidence.
While still in custody, Bishop Jurado Farfán reported serious health problems in June 2026, including intercostal neuritis, atypical pneumonia, and gastrointestinal bleeding in his upper and lower digestive tract.
Marcano said Bishop Jurado Farfán has since given an account of torture in detention, quoting him as saying interrogators “pulled out his toenails” and “opened a burn wound on his chest with electricity.”
Bishop Jurado Farfán said he had spent “five years and fifteen days” behind bars and thanked the organization that campaigned for his freedom, calling it a gift he attributed to God.
Anna Lee Stangl, CSW’s director of advocacy and Americas team leader, said in a statement that Farfán “should never have been imprisoned in the first place.”
“We strongly condemn the torture he experienced and the failure of those in authority to ensure he was provided adequate treatment for his medical conditions,” Stangl said. “Now that he is free, we wish him a full recovery from this ordeal. The Venezuelan government must cease its harassment of religious leaders and others whose only crime is peacefully supporting their communities as they feel called to do.”
President Nicolás Maduro led Venezuela’s government from 2013 until Jan. 3, 2026, when he was ousted and captured in a U.S. military operation that flew him to New York to face narco-terrorism charges. Venezuela’s United Socialist Party had persecuted Christians for more than a decade under Maduro. His government had refused to renew residency permits for religious workers early in his presidency and had promoted a state-sponsored prayer to replace the Lord’s Prayer.
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