An 82-year-old Venezuelan woman has passed away just 10 days after learning her son died while in government custody, according to the NGO that represented his case.
Carmen Navas had spent almost a year looking for her detained son and became well-known throughout Venezuela as she publicly asked for details about her 50-year-old son, Victor Quero. Authorities disclosed 10 days ago that Quero had died from respiratory failure at the notorious Rodeo I prison facility last July.
According to Alfredo Romero, who leads Foro Penal, correctional facility staff had continuously informed Navas that they were unaware of her son’s whereabouts.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado expressed condolences for Navas through social media, commending her for standing up to a “terror apparatus” in her quest to locate her son.
“Not just a mother died; a woman who turned pain into courage and despair into denunciation was extinguished,” Machado wrote, adding that Navas’ voice had become that of thousands of mothers seeking disappeared or imprisoned children.
Earlier this year, after the U.S. attacked Caracas and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Venezuela’s government passed an amnesty law intended to free hundreds of people rights groups consider political prisoners.
Venezuelan authorities have always denied holding political prisoners and said those detained committed legitimate crimes.
