Caracas, Venezuela — Another political prisoner in Venezuela has died, NGO Foro Penal reported last Saturday.

The news came just days after the Venezuelan government admitted that another political prisoner, Víctor Hugo Quero Nava, had died months earlier from medical complications while in state custody. 

The deaths bring renewed attention to the plight of over 450 political prisoners that remain behind bars months after U.S. special forces captured strongman Nicolás Maduro. 

José Manuel García Sabino, 31, was a former councilman from the northeastern city of Anaco and part of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).

Before being jailed, he had denounced corruption inside the Mayor’s Office and the City Council to the disparagement of party officials. 

Local news outlets reported that García Sabino died on May 9 inside a police station. 

Initial reports indicated that he had taken his own life by self strangulation. However, after conducting a forensic examination, authorities determined that the cause of death was mechanical asphyxiation, leading the case to be classified as a homicide.

The Scientific, Penal, and Criminal Investigations Corps (CICPC) arrested 12 officers from the Anaco Municipal Police for their alleged involvement in the case. Following a hearing, six officers were detained.

In addition, they ordered the removal of Pedro Parra, who had served as director of the local police agency since 2022 and is now in custody.

García Sabino, the former councilman, was arrested on February 23 related to an investigation into alleged fraud involving an informal savings scheme known as Susú, used for the purchase of motorcycles.

That same day, his wife, Scarlet Ortiz, was also arrested related to the fraud investigation. Following García Sabino’s death, Ortiz was released from prison, where she had reportedly given birth to the couple’s child while she was being held. 

She posted a message on social media thanking God for her freedom and her lawyers for their efforts.

So far this year, the Venezuelan Prison Observatory has reported 16 deaths of detainees in state custody.

These deaths occurred amid deplorable conditions such as medical neglect, overcrowding, violence, institutional opacity, and the absence of basic safeguards for life.

The observatory stated on X that “behind this figure are men who fell ill without medical care, prisoners who died in overcrowded cells and prisons, families forced to pay for medicine, food, and supplies, and a state that maintains absolute control over these people but does not guarantee their lives.”

They are demanding that authorities conduct thorough and impartial investigations into the deaths.

Featured image: José Manuel García Sabino