From Caracas Jails to Tehran Protests: Portugal’s Bid to Protect Its Citizens

A surge of quiet diplomacy is underway in Lisbon as Portuguese officials juggle two very different crises — persuading Caracas to free dual-nationals still trapped in Venezuelan prisons and steering a handful of compatriots out of an increasingly volatile Iran. Both operations reveal how a midsize European country can leverage alliances, regional politics and its own diaspora networks to protect citizens far from home.

In case you missed the essentials:

• Six to seven dual-national Portuguese remain jailed in Venezuela despite a January wave of presidential pardons.

• Madeira’s regional government is pressuring Lisbon — and Washington — to act on behalf of two detainees with island roots.

• Lisbon’s foreign ministry is coordinating with the EU and Washington while working the phones in Caracas.

• Iran’s spiralling protests have left only a handful of Portuguese residents in country, but two have now asked to leave.

• Emergency lines, land exits via Azerbaijan and Turkey, and the Registo Viajante app form Portugal’s evacuation toolkit.

Why this matters to people in Portugal

The 2020s have drawn Portugal’s far-flung communities back into national conversation. Luso-Venezuelans, once a symbol of successful emigration, now confront political repression; meanwhile a tiny professional cluster in Tehran faces an entirely different security challenge. For mainland families, Madeirans and the government in São Bento, these cases test the limits of Portugal’s diplomatic reach just as new coalitions form in Brussels and Washington over Latin American and Middle-Eastern security.

The Venezuelan front: who is still behind bars?

Years of arrests linked to protests and alleged coup plots have left at least six dual-national detainees — possibly seven if courts reclassify an ongoing case — in facilities from Rodeo I to the Bolivarian police cells of La Yaguara. The names most frequently cited by NGOs include Adrian Leonardo de Gouveia de Sousa, Carla Rosaura Da Silva Marrero and Juan Francisco Rodríguez Dos Ramos, all labelled by Foro Penal as “presos políticos.” January’s announcement of 116 releases (the government figure) initially raised hopes, but the NGO count of 41 actual liberations suggested the Portuguese prisoners were not on that list.

Madeira steps in: island politics on the international stage

Few Portuguese regions have deeper ties to Venezuela than Madeira, home to thousands who migrated in the 50s and 60s. Regional president Miguel Albuquerque has made the detainees Juan Rodríguez and Fernando Venâncio a local cause célèbre, pledging to lobby both Paulo Rangel’s foreign ministry and the US Embassy in Lisbon. His calculation: Washington’s leverage over Caracas, combined with EU pressure, could accelerate negotiations. The episode also underscores how autonomous regions can amplify foreign-policy goals when communities abroad are at risk.

Inside Lisbon’s diplomatic playbook

Portugal is deploying a multi-layered approach:

Consular surveillance run out of the embassy in Caracas and consulates in Valencia and the capital.

EU coordination, allowing Lisbon to tap into a broader bloc that has already secured releases for Italian and Spanish citizens.

Back-channel talks with both government and opposition figures in Venezuela, mindful that post-election uncertainty could provide leverage.

Direct contact with families to keep morale — and documentation — intact.

The foreign minister insists that, despite limited public messaging, day-to-day engagement with Caracas has not let up “since the moment each citizen was detained.”

Tehran turbulence: caring for a tiny diaspora

On the Iranian front the numbers are smaller but the dangers can be just as acute. Fewer than 10 Portuguese nationals were believed to reside in Iran even before the latest unrest. Two have now filed formal requests to leave. While Portugal closed its Tehran embassy temporarily in 2025, consular officers kept a remote hotline running and urged every Portuguese in the country to enrol in the Registo Viajante app.

From hotlines to land corridors: how evacuation works

Past operations offer a blueprint. In mid-2025, Lisbon moved four citizens through Azerbaijan and another via Turkey, echoing the EU’s “use any exit” approach. The toolbox includes:

• Emergency phone lines (+351 217 929 714 and +351 961 706 472)

• Real-time group chats that give location-based safety advice

• Partnerships with other EU embassies when Portugal’s own chancery is shut

• A standing arrangement with the Portuguese Air Force to dispatch aircraft if land routes close

Officials stress that, for now, roads remain the safest option as commercial flights are intermittent.

What happens next?

Diplomats expect Caracas to toy with further releases as it seeks sanctions relief; Portugal hopes to slot its prisoners into that conversation. In Iran, the calculus is simpler: get everyone who wants out, out. Yet the two theatres intersect: both expose the dependence of Portugal’s global citizens on a web of alliances and regional pressure points. For families in Lisbon, Funchal or the Alentejo, the outcome of these efforts will signal whether the country’s modest diplomatic corps can still punch above its weight in an era of fragmented geopolitics.