'No one showed up for me'
Prison altered more than just Centeno’s body. About a year before he entered prison, he was still a committed "chavista", an ardent supporter of the political movement Chavez and Maduro once led.
"I fell in love with what Chavez said," he told Al Jazeera, pointing to the socialist leader's embrace of egalitarian ideas and social welfare programmes, especially education and housing initiatives for the poor.
Centeno added that he would even transcribe Chavez's most important speeches on paper when he was younger.
Today, he feels a deep sense of betrayal when he thinks about the government, led by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).
"I did so much for the party, for the left – and received nothing. No one showed up for me. They didn't even call my mum," he said of his arrest.
But Venezuela's leadership appears unlikely to change anytime soon.
Venezuela's National Assembly leader, Jorge Rodriguez, said this month there were no plans to hold a new election "in this immediate period of time".
The US has issued similar statements. Political analysts like Fernandez have observed that the US appears more focused on economic reform in Venezuela than on democratic reform.
"We don't even remotely have an electoral timetable. We haven't even started talking about the necessary changes at the level of the judiciary and electoral institutions," Fernandez said.
"It’s very clear that, for the United States, the emphasis has been on stability and not on democratisation," she added. "But that doesn't mean that it is excluded from the equation."
But the continued existence of political prisoners in Venezuela remains a source of anger and tension between the government and its opposition.
The families of the remaining detainees have intensified their protests outside the country's prisons. Some have even launched hunger strikes.
Students also took to the streets in February for a nationwide day of protest, demanding the release of those still imprisoned.
Then there are the released dissidents who are now grappling with what accountability should look like. Although Centeno wants justice for what he suffered in prison, he said he doesn't want revenge for his mistreatment.
"I forgive them all," he told Al Jazeera. "I just have to open my heart, my soul, and keep going, because otherwise I'd be chained – even more chained than when I was in prison."
Forgiveness, he said, is something his mother taught him.
— Source: Al Jazeera (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2026/2/20/a-fragile-freedom-for-venezuelas-released-political-prisoners)
