saying he endured 1,675 days behind bars that were "too much pain for a human being." "The message remains the same: four years and seven months in prison did not silence the truth. The truth set me free," Javier Tarazona told AFP in an interview, hours after being released from the Helicoide prison, where he was held on charges including terrorism and treason. The dissident's release marked the latest step by Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, to free political prisoners. She has been under pressure from Washington to free prisoners after the United States ousted Nicolas Maduro on January 3 and declared it is in effect running the South American country. Tarazona spent "1,675 days in a dark place," he said. "It cannot be possible for this kind of case to keep happening." To cries of "Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!" and applause from Catholic faithful, the 43-year-old was taken from prison to the forecourt of a Caracas church. Released outside the church -- authorities often do not free inmates in front of prisons -- Tarazona was reunited with his brother and his mother, Teresa de Jesus Sanchez Garcia, 71. Then came Omar de Dios Garcia, an activist arrested while accompanying Javier Tarazona on July 2, 2021. The Tarazona brothers and De Dios, who at one point shared the same cell for four months, embraced for a long time. "Javier is free at last," his brother Rafael told AFP. The men prayed together and then left, as the faithful at La Candelaria church clapped. "People are applauding out of a great longing for freedom, out of hope for reunions among Venezuelans, out of joy," Javier Tarazona said. "People fervently wish that we can embrace one another with joy, with enthusiasm. Without fear." (Bssnews)