Foro Penal, a non-governmental organization (NGO) that documents arrests of political prisoners in Venezuela, announced this Saturday, December 6, the death in prison, in State custody, of yet another political opponent, the former governor of the state of Nueva Esparta, Alfredo Díaz.
The complaint was made through social media, in a message in which the Foro Penal (FP) announced the death of Alfredo Díaz, imprisoned for more than a year and in isolation, recalling that “17 political prisoners have died in Venezuela since 2014”.
“Alfredo Díaz, former governor of Nueva Esparta, another political prisoner who died in Venezuelan prisons. He was in prison for a year, in isolation. They only allowed his daughter to visit. He was 55 years old. It’s revolting! The State is responsible for the health of the people in its custody”, denounces the president of the FP, Alfredo Romero, on the social network X.
On the same network, the vice-president of the FP, Gonzalo Himiob, said that Díaz’s family had already been informed of the politician’s death and were on their way to Caracas, stating that the victim was imprisoned in El Helicoide, a known prison of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN, intelligence services).
“According to the Minnesota Protocol (2016), this is a potentially unlawful death that must be investigated in an objective and impartial manner”, highlights Gonzalo Himiob, in his message.
The NGO Encontro, Justiça e Perdão (EJP), for its part, lamented, also in X, the death of Alfredo Díaz, stating that on Friday he suffered a heart attack.
“Alfredo was isolated and incommunicado for more than a year. During all this time, the officials responsible for his custody denied him any contact with his family, citing orders from above (…). His arbitrary arrest took place in November 2024, he was accused, without evidence, of incitement to hatred and terrorism; accusations frequently used in the courts to justify maximum sentences against dissidents and opposition voices”, denounces the EJP.
The EJP also says it supports Díaz’s wife and family in demanding an independent, serious and transparent investigation that clarifies the facts that led to the political opponent’s death and identifies those responsible for action or omission during his incarceration.
“Alfredo’s death reminds us, once again, of the urgency of putting an end to repression, releasing all political prisoners and ensuring full respect for human rights in Venezuela. We call on the country and the international community to condemn this fact that has mourned yet another Venezuelan family and which adds to the regrettable and repudiable consequences of the most atrocious attack by State security forces against a helpless and impoverished population, whose only desire continues to be a country democratic where peace is an expression of truth, freedom, justice and economic development”, states the EJP.
The opposition Popular Will party declared that “this is not an isolated case”, but rather “the direct consequence of a system that persecutes, imprisons and destroys lives to maintain itself in power”.
“Alfredo Díaz died without freedom, without justice and without minimum guarantees, in a prison where the regime decides who lives and who dies”, denounced that opposition party in X.
The Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), which brings together the main Venezuelan opposition parties, also lamented the death of Alfredo Díaz, referring to his detention as “a kidnapping”.
On local social media, several Venezuelan politicians accuse the Venezuelan State of having denied the medical assistance that the victim had requested for months.
On the Instagram platform, Leynys Malavé, Alfredo Diáz’s wife, questions the Venezuelan State about her husband’s death.
“I demand an answer about what happened to my husband. Did they kill him?”, he asks.
According to the Penal Forum, Venezuela has 887 people imprisoned for political reasons, 770 men and 117 women, of which 713 are civilians and 174 military personnel, including four teenagers.
According to the organization, among those arrested are 85 foreign citizens.
The Penal Forum does not know the whereabouts of 60 political prisoners.