A Venezuelan member of the Pemon indigenous group accused of aiding a raid on a military post in late 2019 died on Sunday in a jail close to capital Caracas, rights group Penal Forum said in a tweet.
Salvador Franco died just weeks after family members and activists reported he was suffering from health problems. A court in November had ordered his transfer to a medical facility, but authorities did not comply, according to Penal Forum attorney Olnar Ortiz.
“The regime let him die,” Ortiz said. Critics of President Nicolas Maduro’s government call him a dictator who has systematically jailed opponents and denied them rights to due process.
Venezuela’s information ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The government frequently accuses the opposition of seeking to foment a violent coup to seize control of the OPEC nation’s vast oil reserves.
Some 12 other indigenous men remain incarcerated under accusations of participating in the December 2019 raid on…
