After a year-long search for her missing son, a Venezuelan mother died ten days after his death was announced in prison.

An 82-year-old woman who became a symbol for the families of disappeared detainees in Venezuela died just ten days after authorities confirmed the death of her son in custody, a case that has sparked strong emotions in the country.

Carmen Navas had spent nearly a year publicly searching for her son, Victor Quero Navas, aged 50. For months, she had made numerous inquiries with prison authorities and launched appeals for witnesses in an attempt to discover what had become of him.

According to the NGO Foro Penal, prison officials had repeatedly told him they didn't know where his son was. It was only ten days ago that the authorities officially acknowledged that Victor Quero had died last July in Rodeo I prison.

The Venezuelan government stated that the detainee died of respiratory failure. This belated revelation sparked outrage in Venezuela, where several organizations regularly denounce enforced disappearances and abuses in detention centers.

The case of Carmen Navas had deeply affected public opinion. Despite her advanced age, she had become one of the most visible figures for families searching for relatives imprisoned or missing in the country.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado paid tribute to her on social media, stating that she had confronted a "terrorist apparatus" to find her son. She declared that Carmen Navas now represented "the voice of thousands of mothers" facing the disappearance or imprisonment of their loved ones.

This case comes amid an extremely tense political climate in Venezuela, where human rights organizations regularly accuse the authorities of arbitrary detentions and ill-treatment of opponents and prisoners.