We just returned from Venezuela where women across the country asked us the same question: why is the world silent about Cilia Flores?
Cilia Flores, a lawyer, a member of Venezuela’s National Assembly and Venezuela’s First Lady, was kidnapped along with her husband on January 3rd in a U.S. attack that killed 120 people, including civilians. She is now being unjustly held in a New York detention facility as the U.S. attempts a regime change operation. Don’t let Cilia disappear into a prison cell in New York.
Join our call for her release.
To understand why her imprisonment has shaken so many people in Venezuela, you have to understand who she is.
For decades, Cilia has been a central figure in Venezuela’s political transformation. She was the first woman in the country to serve as president of the National Assembly and the first to become Solicitor General.
Yet in Venezuela she is affectionately known by another title: la primera combatiente – the first combatant.
She is not simply the spouse of a president, but a woman who has spent her life on the front lines of the political struggle alongside the Venezuelan people defending their dignity and sovereignty. Join us in demanding that Cilia Flores be released and returned home to her people.
When the first images of her detention emerged, her face was bruised. We later learned she had broken ribs and required 23 stitches in her forehead. Cilia also suffers from a medical condition that requires a specific diet, yet the food she is being given in detention is making her ill and worsening her health.
During our delegation, Venezuelan women spoke about her with deep affection and fierce pride. Many told us that detaining Cilia is meant to criminalize the Bolivarian Revolution itself. We promised the women we met in Venezuela that we would carry their message beyond their borders. Stand with the women of Venezuela, join us in demanding Cilia’s freedom.
On International Working Women’s Day in 2025, Cilia read a poem she wrote highlighting the historic role played by Latin American women in the fight against imperialism.
Today, our blood pulses for Cilia.
Join us in denouncing the kidnapping and prosecution of Venezuela’s First Combatant.
Towards justice,
Medea and Jodie
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