Rosmit Mantilla
Alternate Deputy of the
National Assembly of Venezuela
In office
5 January 2016 – 5 January 2021
ConstituencyTáchira
Personal details
Born (1982-12-13) 13 December 1982 (age 41)
Petare, Miranda, Venezuela
Political partyPopular Will (until 2020)
Civic Encounter (since 2020)
OccupationActivist

Rosmit Mantilla (born 13 December 1982) is a Venezuelan politician, who was elected to the National Assembly of Venezuela in the 2015 Venezuelan parliamentary election.[1] He is noted as the first openly gay politician ever elected to the National Assembly.[1]

Detention

He is a member of the Voluntad Popular party. An LGBT rights activist, Mantilla was arrested in May 2014[2] during the 2014–15 Venezuelan protests against the government of Nicolás Maduro.[3] He was detained at El Helicoide.[4]

He was declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, which lobbied for his release.[1] Along with Renzo Prieto and Gilberto Sojo, he was one of three people elected to the National Assembly in the 2015 election who were still in jail on election day due to charges stemming from the 2014 protests.

On November 11, 2016 it was reported that he was transferred to the Military Hospital because of a delicate health condition.[5] A few months earlier it had been reported he had gallstones and was very ill.[6] On November 15, 2016 his mother, Ingrid Flores, reported he had been transferred once again but this time to the Urólogico San Román to treat a stomach infection that was affecting his pancreas.[7] On November 17, 2016 he was finally released after two and a half years in prison.[2] In an interview with the digital site Panorama he said he would take a few days off to be with his family and was quoted as saying, "I am filled with hope and my commitment to Venezuela is stronger than ever. I will continue to fight for human rights and to achieve freedom for Venezuela and other prisoners of conscience. This is why I want to thank those that helped me be here today".[8]

In 2020, he left Popular Will citing differences with the party's leadership.[9] He has been a member of the centre-right Encuentro Ciudadano party since then.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Amnistía Internacional declara preso de conciencia a Rosmit Mantilla, diputado y activista gay". El Mundo, December 13, 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Venezuelan opposition leader freed after over 2 years in prison". Fox News Latino. 2016-11-18. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  3. ^ "Elected congressmen fight to get out of jail in Venezuela". Fusion, December 14, 2015.
  4. ^ Newland, Karenina Velandia and Charlie (24 January 2019). "El Helicoide: From icon to infamous jail". BBC News.
  5. ^ "Diputado Rosmit Mantilla fue llevado al Hospital Militar". Analitica.com (in European Spanish). 2016-11-11. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  6. ^ "Venezuela: Authorities deny medical care to severely ill imprisoned opposition leader". www.amnesty.org. 4 November 2016. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  7. ^ "Rosmit Montilla se recupera en el Urológico San Román". www.el-nacional.com. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  8. ^ "Rosmit Montilla: Mi compromiso con Venezuela está más fuerte que nunca". Panorama. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  9. ^ "Rosmit Mantilla renunció a Voluntad Popular: «Las diferencias en democracia son sanas»". El Nacional (in Spanish). 8 June 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  10. ^ "Diputado Rosmit Mantilla elevó su apoyo a la comunidad Lgbt de Venezuela". La Patilla (in Spanish). 28 June 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
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