Samantha Hernández
Samantha Sofía Hernández Castillo () is a Venezuelan student who was detained by officers of the Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) on 19 November 2025, when she was 16 years old and in her fifth year of secondary school. Venezuelan human-rights groups described her arrest as arbitrary and said it was intended to pressure her older brother, an exiled dissident military officer, into surrendering to the authorities. Her case was cited by Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, in the opening of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. She was released on 19 May 2026.
Arrest
On 19 November 2025 DGCIM officers raided the Caracas home of Hernández's grandparents and took her into custody. Her mother said in a recorded statement that the officers carried neither a search warrant nor an arrest warrant, and she held Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello responsible for what she described as persistent persecution of her family: "I hold the government and the Minister of the Interior responsible for the damage caused to my daughter, psychological, emotional, physical, since she is a minor. I ask international organisations for help for her prompt release." She described the agents as wearing black, with two displaying vests marked "DCDO" (Division Against Organised Crime) and others identifying themselves as Bolivarian National Police (CPNB) officers.
According to Foro Penal, as of 10 November 2025 there were 882 political prisoners in Venezuela, four of them adolescents.
Multiple Venezuelan rights organisations condemned the detention, including Justicia, Encuentro y Perdón, which called it "alarming" and demanded information on Hernández's whereabouts and immediate release; the Human Rights Committee of Vente Venezuela; the Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners (CLIPPVE); the group Un Mundo Sin Mordaza; and the political party Primero Justicia. CLIPPVE said the arrests of Hernández and her relatives appeared designed to force her brother, Cristhian Hernández—an exiled lieutenant opposed to the government—to surrender.
Nobel Prize ceremony
At the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony on 10 December 2025, when the prize was awarded to María Corina Machado, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, named Hernández in his opening address:
Hearing and release
A preliminary hearing was held on 15 January 2026 before the First Court of Control with jurisdiction in Terrorism cases, presided over by Judge Kelly Núñez. Hernández appeared alongside her older sister Aranza. CLIPPVE reported that the judge barred relatives from the courtroom and that the state-appointed public defender, Annely Ramos, pressured Hernández to admit to crimes she denied.
Hernández was released on 19 May 2026, after six months in custody.
Family
Hernández's brother Cristhian Hernández is an exiled army lieutenant. His wife, Maykelis Borges, was arrested in January 2025 while two months pregnant. An uncle, Henry Castillo, was detained the same month and reported missing as of November of that year. Her older sister, Aranza de los Ángeles Hernández Castillo, was arrested on 21 November 2025 at the age of 19, two days after Samantha.
See also
- Political prisoners during the Bolivarian Revolution