Jorge Luis Montilla Mendez, 47 years old, died this March of tuberculosis at the Preventive Arrests and Detentions Center on the Eastern Coast of the Maraicabo’s Lake, known as the Cabimas jail.
Already, Zulia state governor Omar Prieto, whose election critics deem as fraudulent, promised to shut down the Cabimas jail, where four prisoners have died of tuberculosis this 2020. The Cabimas jail now houses 400 detained, most of them, still awaiting trial or sentence.
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According to the police report, the guards inspecting the wards and rooms of the center before changing their guard at 7:00 am and received a call from others to attend to the victim, who has breathing irregularly.
Montilla died before being transferred to Cabimas hospital. Although there is an area in the care center where prisoners diagnosed with tuberculosis are caring for, it is close due to contamination. He’s been in prison since 2016 for drug-trafficking.
In January, prison officials conducted a medical review. They granted 11 prisoners diagnosed with tuberculosis a humanitarian release.
