Various opposition actors and human rights defenders lamented the event through social networks, in addition to questioning the conditions of those detained for political reasons and demanding their freedom. Photo: Social Networks.
Guacamaya, December 07, 2025. After activists and political leaders denounced the death of former governor Alfredo Díaz in state custody, the Ministry of the Penitentiary Service finally confirmed the fact on Saturday night. According to the official statement, Díaz, 56, was being held at the Center for Defendants, Convicted and Women’s Annex of the Metropolitan Area of Caracas (El Helicoide).
After the fact was unofficially revealed, reactions were not long in coming. Different political leaders from the various sectors of the opposition and human rights activists publicly expressed their regret for the death of the former governor and demanded guarantees for freedom and respect for the integrity of those who think differently.
The Democratic Action party, through its account in X, was one of the first institutional voices to report on the death of the former mayor and former governor, who had been detained in El Helicoide for more than a year. In the message, the white party conveyed words of condolences to his friends and family.
Alfredo Díaz was governor of the state of Nueva Esparta, for that political party, between 2017 and 2021, after serving as mayor of the Mariño municipality between 2008 and 2017, with the same party.
Initially, the event was denounced on the social network X by the activist and former representative of Juan Guaidó in Argentina, Elisa Trotta. Meanwhile, the director of the NGO Foro Penal, Alfredo Romero, had confirmed the information to the EFE news agency.
According to the Popular Will party, the cause of death would have been a fulminant heart attack, which occurred while he was in a cell of the main detention center of the headquarters of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin), located in Caracas. This version contrasts with that of the Penitentiary Service, because although the former governor presented “symptoms compatible with a myocardial infarction,” the leader was transferred to the University Clinical Hospital, where he was admitted to be stabilized.
Political leaders Leopoldo López and Antonio Ledezma also shared strong messages lamenting the situation and assured that the Government did not provide timely medical assistance to Díaz, despite knowing of his health problems.
María Corina Machado, who is in Norway to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, and her political standard-bearer, Edmundo González Urrutia, shared a joint message, hours after the event was known. In the statement, they denounced that six other detainees for political reasons have died in government custody since July 28, 2024, when the last and disputed presidential elections were held in Venezuela.
Other more moderate political leaders of the Venezuelan opposition also expressed their condemnation and sadness for the death of Alfredo Díaz. Antonio Ecarri demanded an immediate end to the repressive practices of the state, as well as an urgent amnesty for all those detained for political reasons. Henrique Capriles Radonski, for his part, stressed that this fact shows the serious conditions faced by political prisoners in the country and the violation of their rights.
Finally, Stalin González regretted the event and demanded that the authorities release all political prisoners and respect their fundamental rights.
Díaz’s arrest occurred more than a year ago, after the former governor publicly questioned the situation in Venezuela, especially regarding the management of the regional government and the electricity crisis in Nueva Esparta. He was arrested in the state of Portuguesa when he went for an interview with intelligence officials and later detained in state custody.
So far, beyond the statement from the Ministry of the Penitentiary Service, no government spokesperson has issued statements on the matter.
