Ariadna Pinto was a 20-year-old Venezuelan girl arrested in August 2024 in the context of post-election protests following the presidential election of President Nicolás Maduro.
At the time, she was accused of terrorism and incitement to hatred by a militant of the Bolívar-Chávez Battle Unity (UBCH) in Tinaquillo, in the state of Cojedes. Her arrest was considered by the opposition to be “arbitrary and without evidence.” The conditions of her detention were described as inhumane by numerous international media outlets and denounced by opposition leader María Corina Machado.
Pinto suffered from type 1 diabetes and high blood pressure, conditions that required constant care. However, during the four months she was deprived of her liberty, her health deteriorated severely due to stress, medical negligence and prison conditions. She was hospitalized several times for episodes of severe hyperglycemia, but was always returned to the detention center without receiving adequate care.
She was finally released on December 7, 2024, following a pressure campaign led by her mother and human rights organizations. However, her health conditions were now seriously compromised. In the following months, Pinto was hospitalized again on two occasions, the last from April 27 until her death on May 10, 2025 due to respiratory arrest.
According to the opposition to Maduro's government, his death is “the result of a systematic policy of persecution and abandonment of political prisoners”.
Unfortunately, the current situation of political prisoners in Venezuela is extremely critical and continues to be the subject of international denunciations, mostly ineffective. Since the presidential elections of July 28, 2024, the government of Nicolás Maduro has intensified the persecution of political opponents, human rights activists, journalists and protesters. Many young people have been arrested on charges of terrorism and conspiracy, often without concrete evidence.
Prisoners are taken from their homes or stopped on the streets. They are held in inhumane conditions, with numerous reports of torture, deprivation of medical care and forced isolation.
Particularly serious is the lack of health care, which leads to the deterioration of the health conditions of many prisoners, as in the case of Ariadna Pinto.
It is hoped that, in the immediate future, international pressure will finally arise that is capable of at least shedding light on these detentions and obtaining a real understanding of the actions of the Maduro government in the last ten years towards Venezuelan political prisoners, The prisoners.
