Jesús Martínez Medina, 36, who suffered from type II diabetes and heart problems, died in political custody on the morning of November 14.
His family confirmed his death to an independent Venezuelan media outlet Ask me. Medina was arrested on July 29 in the northeastern state of Anzoategui after being an electoral witness during the disputed presidential election.
According to human rights NGO Foro Penal, 1,848 people have been arrested for political reasons since the July 28 election, when protests erupted against the election authority’s (CNE) declaration of Nicolás Maduro as the winner of the presidency. This is the largest number of political prisoners in Venezuela in the 21st century.
While Martínez was incarcerated at Anzoategui police headquarters, he developed abscesses on his skin due to being denied medical care to treat his diabetes.
On November 8, lawyer and former prosecutor Zair Mundaray denounced how Martínez was not offered medical attention until his entire leg became infected. He was transferred to the Luis Razzetti Hospital in Barcelona, Anzoategui state and remained there until his death.
At the hospital, Martínez was not allowed an ultrasound to see if his leg should be amputated, Mundaray explained in a post on X.
Martínez’s death has been condemned by several human rights activists, NGOs and opposition political parties and leaders.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado issued a statement, asserting that Martinez’s death was “another crime by Maduro and his regime.”
The political leader added that Martínez “died in the hands (of the government), he died because of the inhumane conditions in which he was kept. To his mother, Maria, and his little daughter Susey, and to all his friends, I send all my strength, care and blessings.”
A statement from the opposition coalition, the Platform of Democratic Unity (PUD), said “Martinez’s case reflects the inhumane conditions” faced by “almost 2,000 political prisoners in Venezuela’s prisons”.
Edmundo González Urrutia, the presidential candidate for the Unitary Platform widely believed to have won the election, called Martinez “one of the heroes who on July 28 defended the vote of more than 7 million Venezuelans who voted for change.”
The Venezuelan opposition collected and published over 80% of the ballots at the central level, with the help of electoral witnesses like Martínez. These precinct-level results show that González won the election with 7.3 million votes (67%) compared to Maduro’s 3.3 million (30%).
González added that “the death of Jesus is not an isolated case; it is evidence of a regime that widely and systematically condemns, denies and eliminates those who speak out.”
