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Aidel Suárez Medina, a 37-year-old Cuban resident in Florida, dreamed of reuniting with his Venezuelan fiancée and sealing their love with a simple wedding. He carried the rings in his luggage and the hope of starting a new life. But that trip, which began on December 24, 2024, turned into a nightmare that now keeps him behind bars in Venezuela.
According to a report by the human rights group Foro Penal, Aidel arrived in that country years ago as part of the bilateral agreements between Cuba and Venezuela, and worked for three years at Corpoelec, the state electric corporation.
After leaving the country and seeking asylum in the United States, he rebuilt his life and planned to marry a Venezuelan woman. His itinerary included flights from the U.S. to Puerto Rico and then to Trinidad, from where he was to head to Venezuela.
However, the authorities denied him boarding. Determined to reach his destination on his own, he took a boat to Güiria, in the state of Sucre. There, he was detained without explanation and transported to Caracas. Since then, his family lost contact with him for five long months, until on May 16, 2025, he managed to briefly communicate by phone to say that he was being held at the Rodeo I Penitentiary Center.
Aidel's situation is particularly delicate. He underwent heart surgery and relies on anticoagulant medication to manage severe tachycardia. His family fears for his life, not knowing if he is receiving proper medical care in prison.
"His health condition requires urgent treatment and constant monitoring, which is hardly possible in a Venezuelan prison," Foro Penal warned in its publication.
While his case remains silent, the Venezuelan government shifted its focus last July to another issue, which was the controversial prisoner exchange between Caracas and Washington, in which former marine Dahud Hanid Ortiz was released, having been convicted for the murder of two Cuban women and an Ecuadorian in Madrid.
Godgiven Cabello himself, the Minister of Interior and Justice, stated on his show Con el mazo dando that “the United States requested a killer.”
However, while a convict serving a triple homicide sentence regains his freedom following a political negotiation, Aidel Suárez, a Cuban with no criminal record, remains imprisoned and isolated for trying to meet with the woman he loves.
The contrast is painful. Foro Penal included his name among the citizens and foreign residents unjustly detained in Venezuela, reminding us that human rights "cannot depend on nationality or agreements between governments."
Her story, marked by love, bureaucracy, and arbitrariness, has become a plea for justice that continues to await a response.
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