Students protest in Venezuela after deaths of political prisoner and his
mother
[May 19, 2026]
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A few dozen people demonstrated Monday
in Venezuela’s capital in memory of a woman who died over the weekend,
just days after learning that her son had died in state custody nine
months ago.
The demonstrators, mostly college students, briefly blocked a highway in
Caracas as they blamed Venezuela’s government for the deaths of Víctor
Hugo Quero, whose detention was considered politically motivated, and
his elderly mother, Carmen Navas. As the students chanted, they also
carried a large banner with Navas’ photo. |
A man holds a Venezuela national flag during a protest calling for
justice for Carmen Navas the day after her death in Caracas, Venezuela,
Monday, May 18, 2026, a week after the government confirmed that her
missing son Victor Hugo Quero had died in custody following his arrest
about a year earlier. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) |
|
“What it stirs up in Venezuelans, in the Venezuelan youth, is
rage, man,” student leader Miguel Ángel Suárez said of the
deaths.
Navas, 82, died 10 days after Venezuela’s prisons agency
announced in a statement that Quero died in July after being
hospitalized while in custody. The government withheld the
information even as Navas demanded proof of life as she visited
detention centers, courthouses and government agencies seeking
the whereabouts of Quero, who had been detained since January
2025.
The government’s statement said Navas, a 51-year-old
salesperson, died of “acute respiratory failure secondary to
pulmonary thromboembolism” 10 days after he was taken to the
hospital for a gastrointestinal issue. It explained that Navas’
relatives were not notified of his death because he failed to
provide contact information.
The case immediately drew the outrage of human rights
organizations, members of Venezuela's political opposition and
relatives of other political prisoners.
“They didn’t die; they were killed!” demonstrators chanted
Monday. “Justice for Carmen!”
The Venezuelan prisoners' rights group Foro Penal estimates that
more than 400 people are currently detained in the country for
political reasons.
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