(BSS/AFP) - The Organization of American States (OAS) on Tuesday urged the release of political prisoners in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela and offered to monitor future elections in those countries.

Hundreds of opposition members are imprisoned in the three nations, which are governed by leftist leaders.

Cuba pledged in March to release prisoners following an agreement with the Vatican, while Venezuela`s interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, is overseeing an ongoing release of prisoners.

The OAS General Secretariat made an "urgent call for the unconditional release of all persons detained for political reasons" in the three nations, according to a statement issued in Panama during its General Assembly.

The OAS, which groups 32 nations across North and South America, stated that the "continued detention of persons for political reasons is incompatible with the principles and commitments of the inter-American system."

It also emphasized the "need to restore democracy" in the three countries and offered to monitor the "holding of elections."

Amid strong pressure from the United States, the Cuban government announced on March 12 the release of 51 prisoners as a gesture of "goodwill" toward the Vatican, and in April it also announced the pardoning of some 2,000 people.

Meanwhile, Rodriguez initiated a process of prisoner releases in Venezuela shortly after assuming power in January following the capture of Nicolas Maduro in a US military operation. She enacted an amnesty law in February.

The NGO Foro Penal counts nearly 400 opposition members still detained in Venezuela.

Meanwhile, a group of UN experts asserts that in Nicaragua there are more than 100 people "forcibly disappeared."

Among this group was the 73-year-old indigenous leader Brooklyn Rivera, who died on May 30 after his health deteriorated following nearly three years of detention.