Prosecutors did not immediately comment.

Granados said the judge did not bar Blanco from holding public office so he will be able to return to work as city administrator for Caracas' anti-Chavez mayor, Antonio Ledezma.

"My faith in God is unbreakable," Blanco told reporters.

Blanco, who also leads an opposition party, called for "all of us to unite in Venezuela from this moment on."

He was jailed in August after participating in an opposition protest that ended in clashes with police. Prosecutors charged him with injuring a police officer and inciting crime. The opposition has rallied around him as a "political prisoner" since he was jailed in Yare prison outside Caracas.

Blanco was released as Chavez's government faces international criticism over recent criminal cases against government opponents and the owner of an anti-Chavez TV channel. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have condemned what they call the use of Venezuela's judiciary by Chavez's government to intimidate opponents.

Venezuelan authorities insist the charges against Blanco and other government opponents are legitimate.