Carmen Navas Buried Beside Her Son in Venezuela

Why this is here: After a year and a half of seeking answers, Carmen Navas learned her son had died nine months prior, a delay that deeply affected her final days.

In Caracas, Venezuela’s Cementerio del Este, Carmen Teresa Navas was buried next to her son, Víctor Hugo Quero Navas, a political prisoner who died in state custody. Navas spent a year and a half seeking information about her son, only to learn of his death recently—nine months after it occurred. She died two days after receiving the news, from a grief described as unbearable.

The funeral drew a crowd including other mothers of political prisoners, who share fears about conditions in Venezuelan prisons—insufficient food, cramped cells, and denied medical care. Attendees also included political and student figures, as well as representatives from human rights groups.

Navas and her son now rest near the gravesite of Raúl Isaías Baduel, another political prisoner who died in custody, and victims of the Junquito massacre. The National Union of Press Workers reported that journalists covering the funeral were filmed by an unknown person, a tactic the union says is used to intimidate the press. The priest officiating the service asked for prayers for Venezuelan mothers still awaiting answers about their children.