From the vicinity of the El Rodeo Judicial Confinement Center, in the state of Miranda, Angélica Serrano, wife of union leader Daniel Romero, has been waiting for 20 continuous days the release of her husband, a union leader and father of five children who has been in prison for two years.
For Angélica, spending the night in this place has been a challenge, whose only light is the candles lit by the relatives of more than 80 political prisoners who are crying out for the release of their loved ones.
Despite the announcement that a “significant number of political prisoners” would be released, made by the president of the National Assembly on January 8, the Romero family has been in Caracas since Friday, January 2, 2026, in the hope of being able to see Daniel on Saturday, the day the visit was scheduled at the penitentiary center and which coincided with a US armed attack that ended with the capture of Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores.
“I arrived on January 2. After Jorge Rodríguez’s statement we decided to stay. We spent the day here, vigil, we prayed, we are with the relatives waiting for them to give us some information. Since January 8 we have been on the outskirts of El Rodeo I,” said Serrano, who made the trip to Caracas every week from her residence in the Unare parish, to see her husband, whom she defined as the “bravest man I know.”
The process has been hard. The visits, contrary to making her feel close, often fill her with anguish, managing to see her husband for only 20 minutes through a glass and without any physical contact. In addition to the lack of contact, she sees him getting thinner and thinner, she told Caroní Mail.
“The same security protocol that they manage there through a glass, a call on the phone. There is no physical contact. Daniel reduced it a lot,” said Romero.
More than 30 requests for medical attention
Angélica specified that during these two years she has made 30 requests for medical transfers for Daniel, who suffers from a stomach condition that forces him to follow a restricted diet. Likewise, since May 2024, the family warned about a new medical condition that, according to a review carried out within the penitentiary, corresponds to the beginnings of Parkinson’s disease.
At this time, his family reported to this media that Daniel remained in a depressed state, coupled with his physical deterioration and weight loss.
“Daniel’s situation has not respected any rights. None. He has a gastric problem and in the process his arm, in a consultation they gave him there, they said it was the beginning of Parkinson’s. He has not been treated by a specialist. In this process I have requested more than 30 medical transfers for him to be treated,” he said.
Romero is the father of five children, two of them are in Brazil. The minors’ mother died outside the country and, since their father is detained, they remain in the custody of a guardian, a situation that keeps their grandparents desperate.
In July 2024, her mother, Marisol Arias, chained herself outside the headquarters of the Venezuelan Corporation of Guayana (CVG) in Puerto Ordaz to ask for her freedom: the elderly woman fainted and had to be removed from the place.
Arrested for asking for better salaries
Daniel Romero was arrested on June 11, 2023 after leading a 7-day protest at the Orinoco Steel Company in which they demanded better salaries. At that time, workers had continued without an increase in the minimum wage for a year; today, three years later, the salary remains the same: 130 bolivars.
Daniel Romero was arrested along with fellow union leader Leonardo Azócar, accused of the crimes of boycott, incitement to hatred and association to commit a crime; However, Azócar was released by June 2024.
Regarding this, his wife reiterated that they requested a precautionary measure, since Azócar, who was detained in the same context and under the same charges, is already free; However, Romero was denied this benefit, as well as the house arrest.
When consulting with their relatives, they claim that they do not know why this differentiation was made in the case.
“We have no answer. Given the same crimes, Daniel has been denied absolutely everything. We delivered the death certificate of the mother of Daniel’s children, who died in Brazil, and the children are minors and are with a guardian. Even with all that documentation delivered: Daniel has been denied any measure,” the interviewee said.
