Ramon Centeno spent most of his four years in a Venezuelan prison lying down. He could barely move around his cramped cell, where thin sheets of fabric hung between the bunk beds for a sliver of privacy.
There were no windows to catch a glimpse of the sun, only a dim yellow light from the corridor that crept across the concrete floor. The lightbulbs in the cell itself had long ago burned out.
Each morning began with the echoes of military-style drum rolls and shouts of “Long live Chavez!” – a tribute to the late socialist president.
Centeno, a journalist, was arrested in 2022 over an interview the government disapproved of, one that linked former officials to alleged drug trafficking.
He became one of the thousands of political prisoners Venezuela has held over the years on charges that rights groups describe as arbitrary and politically motivated.
He still remembers the first time his mum came to see him in prison in Caracas – and they shared a flash of pain at him not being able to leave with her. It was her birthday.
“When we turned around, we looked at each other – me behind bars and her in tears,” Centeno said.
But in the early hours of January 14, the 38-year-old was unexpectedly freed. His mum greeted him in her best clothes and makeup, as if she were attending a celebration, and guided him out in a wheelchair.
“It was an indescribable moment,” he told Al Jazeera of his release. “I felt like I was being reborn – a birth towards freedom.”
Almost two weeks after his release, his mum, Omaira Navas, died of a stroke. She had lived to see his freedom for just 13 days.