Venezuelan Prison Observatory reports 10 inmate deaths in August linked to medical neglect

Ten people held in Venezuelan prisons died during August, most of them allegedly because they did not receive timely medical care, according to the Venezuelan Prison Observatory.

The rights organization said poor sanitary conditions also contributed to the deaths across several prison facilities. Among the documented cases was Ramón Alberto Salas, who died late in August at the Andean Region Penitentiary Center, known as CPRA, after suffering multiorgan failure.

The observatory said Salas’s death was the second recorded at CPRA in 2026. José Gregorio Mendoza Guzmán died there on June 23 from severe hypoxia, which the organization also linked to a lack of medical care inside the prison.

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Ramón Alberto Salas died at the Andean Region Penitentiary Center from multiorgan failure caused by the lack of medical care inside the country’s prisons. Ten people died in prison facilities in August alone, most because of the health neglect we have denounced with concern.

“The Venezuelan state and the Ministry for Penitentiary Services are responsible for the life and physical integrity of every person under their custody,” the organization said. It called the denial of medical attention in prisons a flagrant human rights violation.

The latest denunciation has renewed pressure over the medical crisis in Venezuela’s prison system. The observatory called on prison authorities to implement permanent medical-care protocols to prevent further deaths among incarcerated people.

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The Venezuelan state and the Ministry for Penitentiary Services are responsible for the life and physical integrity of every person under their custody. The denial of medical attention in prisons constitutes a flagrant violation of human rights.