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Who was Carmen Teresa Navas? Venezuelan political prisoner Victor Hugo Quero's mother passes away
Carmen Navas, mother of Venezuelan political prisoner Víctor Hugo Quero Navas, died at 81 after a long search for her son in custody.
Carmen Teresa, the mother of a Venezuelan political prisoner who died in custody under former President Nicolas Maduro's regime last year, has passed away. Venezuelan news outlet El Nacional reported that Carmen Navas has died. She was 81 years old.
Carmen Navas made headlines in Venezuela and beyond as she searched for her son for months after he was arrested in January 2025 on terrorism charges. It was only on May 8 this year that Venezuela's prison ministry confirmed that Victor Hugo Quero Navas died on July 24, 2025.
The ministry has said that Victor Hugo Quero Navas died at a Caracas military prison from "acute respiratory failure secondary to pulmonary thromboembolism."
Carmen Navas searched for her son from pillar to post in Venezuela but could not confirm his whereabouts even as he was detained. She is widely considered one of the prominent faces symbolizing the excesses of the erstwhile Maduro administration.
María Corina Machado Reacts
Maria Corina Machado, Venezuela's opposition leader and the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner, was one of the first to react to the news of Carmen Navas' death.
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"Not only did a mother die; a woman who transformed pain into courage and despair into protest was silenced," she said, per El Nacional.
"Carmen leaves us with an immense lesson in perseverance and dignity. An 80-year-old woman faced, alone and without fear, an entire apparatus of terror that wanted to erase her son and break her family. They couldn't."
When Carmen Navas Visited Son's Grave
One of Carmen Navas' last public appearances was when she visited her son's grave at a cemetery in Caracas on May 7 - the conclusion of a months-long search. The photo by Reuters showed the 81-year-old breaking down in front of her son's grave.
Notably, the United Nations' Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances issued a statement after Víctor Hugo Quero's custodial death was confirmed.
“The disappearance of Mr. Víctor Hugo Quero Navas and his subsequent death in custody must be subject to a prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigation. Such an investigation must include independent forensic examinations, proper identification of the body, and its dignified return to the family,” the group said.
