Jailed Venezuela minister dies in custody

Nelson Martinez, the jailed former head of Venezuela's state-run oil giant PDVSA who was arrested last year as part of anti-corruption purge, has died in state custody, authorities say.

The chief prosecutor's office said Martinez suffered from a serious and chronic illness that led to his death at a medical facility where he was undergoing treatment.

The death is likely to focus attention on the conditions in which authorities are holding key opponents and former government officials.

Martinez died two months after a Caracas councilman, Fernando Alban, fell to his death from a high-rise police building in what the government classifies a suicide but which the opposition insists was murder.

Martinez, who also served as oil minister, was arrested last year along with dozens of other executives and officials as part of an anti-corruption purge at PDVSA led by socialist President Nicolas Maduro.