The Venezuelan NGO Foro Penal denounced this Saturday (12/06/2025) the death in prison and in state custody of the former opposition governor of Nueva Esparta Alfredo Diaz, who had been imprisoned and “isolated” for more than a year, according to the director of the institution, Alfredo Romero. The politician had been arrested in November 2024 and charged with “terrorism” and “incitement to hatred.”
“Another political prisoner who dies in Venezuelan prisons. He had been imprisoned for a year, isolated. They only allowed one visit from his daughter. She was 55 years old. It’s outrageous! The State is responsible for the health of the person in its custody,” Romero said on his X (Twitter) account. Díaz’s wife, Leynys Malavé, demanded a response from the State: “What happened to my husband, did they kill him?” she asked on the Instagram network.
The opposition party Voluntad Popular (VP) assured that Díaz died at the Caracas headquarters of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin), known as El Helicoide, “victim of a devastating heart attack.” “This is not an isolated event. It is the direct consequence of a system that persecutes, imprisons and destroys lives to stay in power,” VP protested.
“There will be no impunity”
Through a joint statement, María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia indicated that Díaz’s death reveals a “sustained pattern of state repression“, and denounced that there are already 7 political prisoners who have lost their lives in prison after the presidential elections of July 28, 2024. “The security and penitentiary system has been instrumentalized to persecute, punish and bankrupt those who think differently,” said the opposition leaders.
Regarding Díaz, they stressed that his integrity and life were “the exclusive responsibility of those who kept him arbitrarily kidnapped” in El Helicoide. “It is a crime under the responsibility of the regime,” reaffirmed Machado and González Urrutia, who promised that they will document “every omission and every responsibility” and “there will be no impunity.”
For his part, the opponent and VP leader, Leopoldo López, assured that Díaz “had been requesting medical attention for months and they denied it.” “His departure deeply touches those of us who walk with him and share the fight for freedom,” López said on his X (Twitter) account.
DZC (EFE, AFP)
