Former Venezuelan governor dies in intelligence police prison

Bloomberg News on Dec 6, 2025

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A former Venezuelan governor has died while being held in one of the intelligence police’s prisons in Caracas for more than a year.

Alfredo Díaz, 56, was found dead in his jail cell at the Helicoide prison on Saturday morning, according to Caracas-based human rights organization Foro Penal, which said via text message that he may have suffered a heart attack.

The report of Díaz’s death comes amid what the organization Justicia, Encuentro y Perdón described this week as a “progressive worsening” of the country’s human rights situation. They report a rise in arbitrary detentions and warrantless raids as part of an increasing repression of citizens for political reasons.

Meanwhile, President Nicolás Maduro’s government faces increasing pressure from the U.S., whose military presence in the Caribbean includes warships, aircraft and the world’s largest aircraft carrier. After destroying several alleged drug-trafficking vessels, killing dozens of people, President Donald Trump said land strikes could begin “soon.”

“I demand an answer: what happened to my husband?” Díaz’s wife, Leynys Malavé, wrote in a social media post. “Was he killed?”

Díaz, the former governor of Nueva Esparta state, was arrested by security forces in November 2024, as he traveled by bus toward the Colombian border in the wake of a disputed presidential election. After being held incommunicado for several days, he was transferred to the Helicoide prison, which is notorious for torture of political dissidents.

The group Justicia, Encuentro y Perdón estimates the government is holding 1,082 political prisoners, while Foro Penal counts 887. Diaz becomes the 17th political prisoner to die under state custody since 2014, according to Foro Penal.