Rosmit Mantilla (born 13 December 1982) is a

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n politician, who was elected to the

National Assembly of Venezuela The National Assembly ( es, Asamblea Nacional) is the legislature for Venezuela that was first elected in 2000. It is a unicameral body made up of a variable number of members, who were elected by a "universal, direct, personal, and secret" vo ...

in the

2015 Venezuelan parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Venezuela on 6 December 2015 to elect the 164 deputies and three indigenous representatives of the National Assembly. They were the fourth parliamentary elections to take place after the 1999 constitution, ...

."Amnistía Internacional declara preso de conciencia a Rosmit Mantilla, diputado y activista gay"
'' El Mundo'', December 13, 2015. He is noted as the first openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

politician ever elected to the National Assembly.

Detention

He is a member of the Voluntad Popular party. An

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, ...

activist, Mantilla was arrested in May 2014 during the 2014–15 Venezuelan protests against the government of Nicolás Maduro."Elected congressmen fight to get out of jail in Venezuela"

Fusion Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole. Fusion may also refer to: Science and technology Physics *Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...

, December 14, 2015. He was detained at El Helicoide. He was declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, which lobbied for his release. 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. A few months earlier it had been reported he had gallstones and was very ill. 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. On November 17, 2016 he was finally released after two and a half years in prison. 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". In 2020, he left Popular Will citing differences with the party's leadership. He has been a member of the centre-right Encuentro Ciudadano party since then.

References

Members of the National Assembly (Venezuela) Gay politicians Popular Will politicians Venezuelan LGBT rights activists Venezuelan LGBT politicians Venezuelan gay men Living people Venezuelan democracy activists 1982 births Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Venezuela Prisoners and detainees of Venezuela Venezuelan politicians convicted of crimes LGBT legislators {{Venezuela-bio-stub

Detention

See also

References