42 years old
Ebro Leonardo Delgado Briceño is a 42-year-old retired captain of the Bolivarian National Armed Force and former Security Manager at the Cardón Refinery (CRP-PDVSA) who was arbitrarily detained on July 28, 2022, by SEBIN officials as he left his workplace, without a warrant. According to the testimony of his wife, Maryoling Carolina González Morales, the arrest was based solely on a message published by a third party on the social network Twitter that mentioned him without providing evidence of his participation in any criminal acts. Simultaneously, SEBIN agents raided his home without a judicial order, intimidating his minor children and elderly relatives. Following his arrest, he suffered a forced disappearance for approximately 50 days, during which his family searched various detention centers without receiving information about his whereabouts. It was later revealed that he had been held in extreme isolation in a windowless cell under unsanitary conditions, resulting in significant weight loss. He was prosecuted for terrorism, conspiracy, and criminal association, despite his defense denouncing a lack of material evidence and multiple procedural irregularities, including repeated delays, the interruption of the trial, and the imposition of a 30-year prison sentence on April 15, 2024. From April 4, 2024, onward, he was held at the Rodeo I prison, where his family reported isolation conditions, severe visit restrictions, and the inability to say goodbye to his mother before her passing in December 2024. In July 2026, he was released after nearly four years of arbitrary detention, though human rights organizations noted that his release does not imply recognition of the severe due process violations suffered during his imprisonment.