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yesterday

Alfredo Díaz Dies in SEBIN’s El Helicoide; U.S. Condemns Maduro After In‑Custody Death

Calls for an independent investigation are intensifying after officials attributed the death to a heart attack.

Image
A general view of the El Helicoide building, headquarters of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN) in Caracas, taken on July 28, 2023. A virtual reality project denounces "systematic torture" in the feared dungeons of El Helicoide, where the intelligence service of Venezuela operates. "We are looking for decision makers to promote the closure of torture centres. We want the Helicoide to be closed," Victor Navarro, director of Voces de la Memoria, the NGO that developed the project, said in an interview with AFP in Buenos Aires, where he has been living for four and a half years as a refugee. (Photo by Yuri CORTEZ / AFP)
El portaaviones nuclear USS Gerald R. Ford apunta hacia Venezuela.
Imagen de 2017: Laidy Gómez (centro), gobernadora electa del estado Táchira, habla durante una conferencia de prensa junto al gobernador electo del estado Nueva Esparta Alfredo Díaz (izquierda) y el gobernador electo del estado Anzoátegui Antonio Barreto en Caracas

Overview

  • Venezuela’s penitentiary ministry said Díaz showed heart attack symptoms around 6:33 a.m. on December 6, was taken to Hospital Clínico Universitario, and died shortly after.
  • Relatives and human-rights groups reject the official account, citing denied medical care, isolation in custody, and lack of access to the body or medical documentation.
  • Foro Penal and legal advocates are urging an impartial inquiry under the Minnesota Protocol and say the case constitutes a potentially unlawful death in custody.
  • Díaz, a former Nueva Esparta governor detained since November 2024 on terrorism and incitement charges, had a paralyzed trial and severely restricted visits, according to his defenders.
  • The U.S. State Department condemned the death, labeled Maduro’s government a criminal regime, and described El Helicoide as a torture center, as opposition figures link the case to a broader pattern of in-custody deaths since late 2024.