17 years old
Carlos Daniel Fernández Hernández was 17 years old at the time of his arrest, serving as a first-year cadet of the Leander Battalion at the Military Academy of the Army when he was arbitrarily detained on February 6, 2025 (though some sources indicate February 7, 2025) by officials of the Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM). According to the account of his mother, Ana Luisa Hernández Tillero, he was forcibly removed from the Military Academy along with other cadets and remained in a state of enforced disappearance for approximately eleven months, during which time his family did not know his whereabouts and was unable to communicate with him. He was initially held at the DGCIM headquarters in Boleíta and was subsequently transferred to the Rodeo I Judicial Penitentiary. His mother denounced that, during his detention, Carlos was beaten and tortured to force him to incriminate others, suffering spinal injuries as a result of the mistreatment. Despite being a minor at the time of the events, he was charged with terrorism and treason, brought before a court solely via telematics, and kept deprived of liberty without a trial ever taking place. Organizations and media outlets have pointed out that his case is part of the mass arrest of cadets linked without evidence to an alleged conspiracy against the Venezuelan government, denouncing severe violations of due process, special protection guarantees for children and adolescents, and the prohibition of enforced disappearance.