The US government has criticized the Maduro regime over the death of a imprisoned political dissident, labeling it a "clear indication of the abhorrent nature" of President Nicolás Maduro's rule.
The political prisoner died in his cell at the El Helicoide prison in Caracas, where he had been detained for in excess of twelve months, as reported by human rights organisations and political opponents.
The Venezuelan government reported that the former governor exhibited signs of a myocardial infarction and was taken to a hospital, where he succumbed on Saturday.
This recent criticism from the US is part of an escalating exchange of rhetoric between the White House and President Maduro, who has accused America of seeking a change in government.
In the last several months, the US has boosted its troop levels in the region and has executed a series of lethal attacks on boats it says have been used for trafficking narcotics.
US President Donald Trump has alleged Maduro himself of being the chief of one of the country's cartels—an claim the Venezuelan president strongly rejects—and has threatened the use of force "by land".
"He had been 'held without cause' in a 'facility for mistreatment'," declared the US foreign policy division.
Díaz was taken into custody in that year after joining many opposition figures to dispute the results of that period's election for president.
Venezuela's pro-government national electoral body declared Maduro the victor, despite figures from dissidents indicating their nominee had triumphed by a wide margin.
The electoral process were broadly rejected on the international stage as neither free nor fair, and sparked protests around the nation.
The former governor, who led the coastal region, was accused of "promoting hatred" and "extremism" for disputing Maduro's claim to victory.
Local advocacy group Foro Penal has expressed alarm over declining circumstances for jailed opponents in the Latin American nation.
"One more detained dissident has died in Venezuelan prisons. He had been incarcerated for a twelve months, in isolation," wrote Alfredo Romero, the organisation's president, on a social network.
He said that he had only been allowed one meeting from his daughter during the entire length of his detention. He added that 17 detained dissidents have passed away in the country since 2014.
Political rivals have also condemned the regime over the death of Díaz.
María Corina Machado, a prominent opposition leader who was awarded this period's Nobel Peace Prize but who remains in concealment to escape capture, stated that the governor's demise was not a one-off event.
"Sadly, it joins an alarming and painful series of demises of jailed opponents imprisoned in the aftermath of the electoral repression," she wrote.
The opposition alliance declared that Díaz "passed away unfairly".
His own political party, Democratic Action (AD), also paid tribute to the politician, stating he had been wrongly imprisoned without due process and had stayed in circumstances "that should never have violated his fundamental rights".
Tensions between the US and Venezuela have become progressively worse over what Trump has labeled attempts to stop the movement of narcotics and immigrants into the United States.
Maduro has for his part accused the US of using its war on drugs as an justification to depose his regime and get its hands on Venezuela's huge crude oil deposits.
The United States has also stationed a large naval force—its largest presence in the region in decades—along with many troops.
In a parallel move, the Venezuelan military reportedly enlisted over five thousand six hundred recruits in a mass ceremony on Saturday, in reaction to what military leaders described as US "intimidation".
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