Armas had been part of Gonzalez’s campaign for the presidency last year.
An outspoken activist with a broad smile, warm eyes and a crop of dark brown hair, Armas had long wanted to see change in Venezuela — a country that was once the richest in South America.
Bountiful oil reserves had brought record prosperity to Venezuela in 1970, but in subsequent decades, notably in the 1980s and 2010s, oil prices dropped.
The country’s economy has since struggled with issues like high inflation, corruption, crumbling infrastructure and foreign sanctions.
Decrying the decline of Venezuela’s institutions, Armas founded a nonprofit, Ciudadania Sin Limites, in 2012 dedicated to improving access to essential public services in underserved communities.
But his family believes it was his role in the 2024 presidential campaign that led to his arrest — and subsequent torture.
Rivas said she spent six days looking for Armas after his abduction, only to be met with denials from public prosecutors, judges and other officials. No one seemed to know where he was.
She found out later that Armas had already gone before a court. He had not been allowed to choose his own lawyer: A public defender had been assigned instead.
Rivas was eventually able to see Armas for a 15-minute visit at a detention facility known for rats and other unsanitary conditions.
“He told me he’d first been in a clandestine house for three days, suffocated with black bags and they asked him where opposition leaders were,” Rivas said.
Armas has since been transferred to El Helicoide, a shopping centre turned detention facility in Caracas with a reputation for torture.
According to a December report, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights found that Venezuela had used “state terrorism” to instil terror in citizens after the election.
Among its tactics were extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions and “cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment”.