GENE PRESS
Venezuelan opposition politician Alfredo Díaz Figueroa
Imprisoned for a year, in isolation, in a famous prison of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service, the Venezuelan politician died on Friday, at the age of 55, of a “heart attack”. According to the NGO Foro Penal, 17 political prisoners have died in Venezuela in the last 11 years — and 60 are missing.
The , a non-governmental organization that documents detentions of political prisoners in Venezuela, announced this Saturday the death in prison, under State custody, of yet another political opponent, the former governor of the state of Nueva Esparta, Alfredo Diaz Figueroa.
The complaint was made through social media, in a message in which the Penal Forum (FP) announces the death of Alfredo Díaz, imprisoned for over a year and in isolation, and recalls that 17 political prisoners died in Venezuela, since 2014.
“Alfredo Díaz, former governor of Nueva Esparta, another political prisoner who dies in Venezuelan prisons. He had been in prison for a year, in isolation. They only allowed one visit from their daughter. 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 Penal Forum, Alfredo Romeroin a post on the social network X.
In the same network, the vice-president of the FP, Gonzalo Himiobsaid that Díaz’s relatives have already been informed of the politician’s deathstating that the politician was prisoner in El Helicoidea known prison for the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN), the country’s intelligence services.
“Under the 2016 Minnesota Protocol, this is a potentially wrongful death that must be investigated objectively and impartially”, highlights Gonzalo Himiob, in his .
The is a UN guideline for the investigation of potentially unlawful deaths, which established a common performance standard in the investigation of a potentially death illegal activity caused by agents of the State or when there is a failure of the State to protect life.
The NGO Encontro, Justiça e Perdão (EJP), for its part, lamented, also in X, the death of Alfredo Díaz, stating that on Friday 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, claiming superior orders“, denounces the EJP.
“Your arbitrary detention occurred in November 2024, was accused, without evidence, of incitement to hatred and terrorism; accusations often used in courts to justify maximum penalties against dissidentsopposition voices”, notes the NGO.
The EJP also says that it will accompany Díaz’s wife and family in demanding a independent, serious and transparent investigation that clarifies the facts that led to the death of the political opponent and identifies those responsible for action or omission during his incarceration.
“Alfredo’s death reminds us, once again, of the urgency to put an end to repressionrelease all political prisoners and guarantee full respect for human rights in Venezuela”, adds the NGO.
“We call on the country and the international community to condemn this fact which 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 populationwhose only desire continues to be a democratic country where peace is an expression of truth, freedom, justice and economic development”, states the EJP.
The opposing party Popular Will declared that “this is not an isolated case”, but rather “the direct consequence of a system that persecutes, incarcerates and destroys lives to stay 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 the opposition party in X.
Also the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), which brings together the main Venezuelan opposition parties, 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 the victim had requestedfor months.
On the Instagram platform, the lawyer Leynys Malavéwife of Alfredo Diáz, the Venezuelan State about her husband’s death. “I demand an answer about what happened to my husband. Did they kill him?”.
According to the Penal Forum, Venezuela has 887 people arrested for political reasons, 770 men and 117 women, of whom 713 are civilians and 174 military personnelincluding four teenagers. Among those arrested are 85 foreign citizens. The NGO unknown the whereabouts of 60 political prisoners.
