Lindomar Amaro, who worked as a motorcycle taxi driver, had already attempted to take his own life while in captivity. Photograph: Comité por la Libertad de los Presos Políticos.
Guacamaya, May 5, 2025. Human rights organizations and relatives have reported the death of Lindomar Jesús Amaro Bustamante, 27, while in state custody. He had been arrested during the post-election protests of 2024. Amaro, who was held at Tocorón prison, was detained on July 29 by PNB officers while on his way home in Cojedes.
According to the Comité por la Libertad de los Presos Políticos (Clippve), Amaro died on Saturday, May 3, by hanging in his cell. The NGO emphasized that he had previously attempted to take his own life and, despite warnings from his family, was not given proper medical care or protection—worsening the state’s responsibility for what they claim was a preventable death.
The NGO and Amaro’s family assert that he and other young people arrested after the presidential elections were subjected to inhumane conditions, torture, isolation, and emotional distress. One of them, Jhoandri Joel Silva Lara, also attempted suicide. The Comité described this as a “pattern designed to break detainees’ resistance and silence their families through fear and retaliation.”
The organization has demanded an impartial investigation and accountability for those responsible, including the prison director, Juan Carlos Quezada, whom they accuse of overseeing “inhumane conditions” in Tocorón. Meanwhile, the group Madres en Defensa de la Verdad has also warned about the “poor quality of food and water” in prisons, as well as “physical punishment and psychological torture.”
With Amaro’s death, at least six individuals have died while in state custody in Venezuela between 2024 and so far in 2025, according to Clippve’s data. Public records list the other five as Jesús Manuel Martínez Medina (36 years / Nov. 2024), Jesús Rafael Álvarez (44 years / Dec. 2024), Osgual Alexander González Pérez (43 years / Dec. 2024), César Mayora (Jan. 2025), and Reinaldo Araujo (Feb. 2025).
The NGO Foro Penal estimates that there are currently 906 political prisoners in the country, most of whom were arrested following protests against the official results of the 2024 presidential elections. Reports of torture, mistreatment, and deaths in custody have intensified international pressure on Maduro’s government, with calls from the European Union and the OAS to ensure the safety of detainees.
(With information from EFE).
