'Total isolation' - Venezuelan lawmaker tells of time in Maduro's jails

FILE PHOTO: Lilian Tintori (C), wife of jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, holds hands with opposition deputy Gilbert Caro (L) as she leaves after a meeting with deputies of the Venezuelan coalition of opposition parties (MUD) and relatives of imprisoned dissidents at the National Assembly in Caracas, January 11, 2016. REUTERS/Marco Bello/File Photo

CARACAS (Reuters) - A year and a half in Venezuela's feared prison system, deprived of food and water, caused opposition lawmaker Gilber Caro to lose 18 kg (40 lb), about a fifth of his body weight, he said.

At one point, Caro says he used a needle and thread to sew his lips shut for a five day hunger strike to protest at conditions. Prison authorities denied this account, which Reuters could not independently verify.