U.S. calls Venezuelan opposition figure’s death in custody ‘despicable’

The United States has criticized the Venezuelan government over the death of an opposition figure in custody, calling it a “reminder of the evil nature of President Nicolás Maduro’s regime.”

Rights and opposition groups said Alfredo Díaz died in his cell at the El Helicord prison in Caracas, where he had been held for more than a year.

The Venezuelan government said the 56-year-old man showed signs of a heart attack and was taken to hospital, where he died on Saturday.

The U.S. intervention is the latest in an escalating war of words between the Trump administration and Maduro, who accuses the United States of seeking regime change.

The United States has stepped up its military presence in the region in recent months and carried out a series of deadly attacks on ships it said were used to smuggle drugs.

US President Donald Trump has accused Maduro himself of being the leader of one of the region’s drug cartels – a charge Venezuela’s president strongly denies – and threatened military action “by land”.

The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs said Diaz was “arbitrarily detained” in a “torture center.”

Díaz joined numerous opposition figures in disputing the results of that year’s presidential election and was detained in 2024.

Venezuela’s government-controlled electoral commission declared Maduro the winner, despite opposition statistics showing their candidate winning in a landslide.

The election was widely seen on the international stage as neither free nor fair and sparked protests across the country.

Díaz, the former governor of Nuevo Espata, Venezuela’s Caribbean island state, has been accused of “inciting hatred” and “terrorism” for questioning Maduro’s claims of victory.

Venezuelan human rights group Foro Penal has expressed concern about the deteriorating situation of political prisoners in the Latin American country.

Alfredo Romero, the organization’s president, wrote on X: “Another political prisoner has died in a Venezuelan prison. He had been held in solitary confinement for a year.”

He said his daughter was only allowed to visit Diaz once while he was incarcerated. He added that 17 political prisoners had died in the country since 2014.

Opposition groups also criticized the government over Diaz’s death.

Prominent opposition leader María Corina Machado, winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, said Diaz’s death was not an isolated incident.

She wrote on

Machado, an outspoken critic of Maduro’s government and a key figure in fomenting opposition to it, may miss Wednesday’s Nobel Prize ceremony in Oslo. Attorney General of Venezuela Last month she said she would be considered a “fugitive” if she traveled to Norway.

The opposition coalition Democratic Unity Platform said Diaz died “unjustly.”

Diaz’s own party, the Democratic Action Party, also paid tribute to the former governor, saying he had been unfairly detained without due process and kept in conditions that “should not have violated his fundamental rights.”

Tensions between the United States and Venezuela have grown increasingly tense over what Trump says is an effort to stem the flow of drugs and immigrants into the United States.

U.S. air strikes on shipping in the Caribbean and Pacific have killed more than 80 people.

Trump has accused Maduro of “emptying his prisons and asylums” into the United States and designated two Venezuelan drug cartels – Trende Aragua and Cater de los Sols – as terrorist organizations, which Trump claims are led by Maduro.

Maduro in turn accuses the United States of using the war on drugs as a pretext to overthrow his socialist government and seize Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. Colombia’s leftist President Gustavo Petro said the U.S. attack was an attempt to “dominate” Latin America.

The United States also maintains a large naval presence – the largest deployment to the region in decades – and thousands of troops.

The Venezuelan military reportedly swore in more than 5,600 soldiers on Saturday in response to what military leaders called a “threat” from the United States.

On the same day, the Venezuelan government said Maduro and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had agreed to resume Turkish Airlines flights between the two countries.

The carrier is One of six major international airlines has had its landing permit revoked Flights to Caracas were temporarily suspended as the United States warned of “increased military activity” in the region.