Covid-19: Raúl Isaías Baduel dies in prison while on first dose of Vaccine

Retired Venezuelan general Raúl Isaías Baduel has been confirmed dead in prison.

He died after suffering a cardiac arrest due to complications from COVID-19, according to Venezuela’s attorney general Tarek William Saab.

” We regret the death of Raúl Isaias Baduel from a #Cardiorespiratory strike as a result of Covid19, ” Tarek wrote on Twitter. “While he was receiving the corresponding medical care and received the first dose of the vaccine … We transmit our #Condolences to his family and friends #RIP”.

He is the 10th Political Prisoner to die in custody since 2014.

Raúl Isaías Baduel was a Venezuelan politician, retired general, and former Defense Minister under President Hugo Chávez. He was a member of Chavez’s MBR-200, joining in December 1982.

Raúl Isaías Baduel Arrest

The ex-general has been arrested several times during his political career.

•  2008 arrest – In October 2008, a “military prosecutor said he was responsible for about $14 million that disappeared during his tenure as defense minister” in a transaction involving the purchase of military equipment.
• 2009 arrest – Baduel was arrested at gunpoint on April 2, 2009; Baduel claimed his arrest was politically motivated, and Chávez allies admitted he was in private. Baduel was imprisoned in Ramo Verde.
• 2010 arrest – Baduel was convicted of corruption by a military court in May 2010 and sentenced to seven years and eleven months in jail; Baduel maintains his innocence. He was released in 2015.
• 2017 arrest – Baduel was arrested again on January 12, 2017, when the Venezuelan government claimed he was conspiring to overthrow the government. Several more opposition figures were detained on trumped-up allegations, according to the opposition.

He was transferred to Fuerte Tiuna’s maximum-security jail in June 2019.