Terror in El Helicoide: the vanguard shopping center became the most cruel prison of the Maduro regime

El Helicoide is located in the south-central region of Caracas, between the communities of San Pedro and San Agustín del Sur. A building that It was born as an architectural icon and eventually became the most feared detention and torture center of Nicolás Maduro's regime.

The project, led by Venezuelan architect Jorge Romero Gutiérrez, winner of the National Award for Architecture in 1996, was carved around the hill known as Roca Tarpeyawhere two valleys coincide.

The avant-garde helicoidal building began to rise for recreational purposes in the 50s, during the era of the Venezuelan economic boom, collapsed in the oil boom. serious a large shopping center with heliport, club, exhibition halls, park, hotel, 300 shops and lifts brought from Vienna to Caracas.

But its construction was delayed because of financial problems and finally he was abandoned before its completion.

Celeste Olalquiaga, co-author of the book with Lisa Blackmore Downward spiral: Helicoide's descent from the mall to the prison (2018)explained in an article published for the Prodavinci portal that the construction had been damaged by the pbadage of time, rains and internal waste: "The helicoid is between incomplete and ruined ".

Finally, in 1984, he took his facilities almost in ruins Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services (DISIP)then reconverted by Chavez in Bolivian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN), whose offices today occupy the upper floors of the helicoid, next to those of the Bolivarian National Police (PNB).

Between the two forces, they turned the building into a scary center for imprisonment and torture of political prisoners.

The penitentiary center, or the dungeon of Nicolás Maduro's regime as some call it, a seven ovals The sixth of them, who is occupied by the SEBIN, has cells, offices, isolation rooms and small spaces that look like bathroomsbut that would have been used to tortures, as described by CNN in Spanish.

From a distance you can see a neglected structure, surrounded by precarious and incomplete dwellings.

Lorent Saleh, a human rights activist, was arrested for four years after participating in anti-government protests in 2014, in which at least 3,000 people had been arrested, according to data from the US. NGO Foro Penal Venezolano.

For Saleh, the Helicoide is a old building, with a sordid interior, where depravity, extortion and torture They make theirs. In the first interview he gave when he left the formidable structure of concrete, published by The world, the human rights defender described his experience and described the prison.

"It was noise, dirt, overpopulation, depravity. Political prisoners and opponents mingled with allegedly corrupt prisoners and 200 common law prisoners (…) El Helicoide is the pure expression of the mafia. Extortion reigns there, especially economic. At levels that no one can imagine, "said Saleh, Sakharov Prize 2017.

In this prison, terror is not only home to Venezuelans. Foreigners love Joshua Holt, a Mormon missionary of American descent, also suffered behind the walls of El Helicoide.

Holt was arrested on June 30, 2016 with his wife, Thamara Caleño, a Venezuelan nationalized Ecuadorian.

The couple was accused of unlawful possession of a weapon of war and, weeks after their arrest, the Venezuelan authorities stated that the home of Holt and Caleño was used as "weapons storage center and". Explosive "for terrorist purposes.

Two years later, Holt and Caleño were released. And the American managed to count the humiliation suffered by him and his wife during his detention. A "small cell", without a toilet and with a bunk, was the place where Joshua was during his stay in the Venezuelan prison, the one he described as "what closer to hell"

"I had to defecate in a newspaper on the floor and urinate in a bottle, the stench was unbearable," the missionary told The Daily Mail.

Holt was suffering from bronchitis, scabies, kidney stones and hemorrhoids. He did not receive medical care, only an injection of painkillers. During, his wife was tortured to force her to sign confessions against him.

She refused and changed Electrocuted with a taser and his fingers were placed in a sharpener.

"They wanted me to sign confessions that Josh was part of a spying plan, that he was leading a CIA team tasked with undermining the Venezuelan government, that he had killed people, I just cried and refused, "she said.

Discontent became voices

Between the 16th and 18th of May of the year 2018, the first riot inside Helicoide facilities. Several videos have been broadcast since the prison. But any of them has activated the alarms.

The detainees shouted and organized a skirmish in the corridor of the penitentiary center. One inmate broke a light bulb with a stick and another broke his cell lock with a dumbbell.

The inhuman conditions there had led political prisoners and common law prisoners to join forces.

The beat that received Gregory Sanabria, engineering student from the Táchira state, was the resounding blow. The blows caused a crack in the skull, a broken nose and bruises.

Sanabria was almost unrecognizable. Images on social networks showed a different person. His face was swollen and, in part, purple; his left eye was closed and his nose twisted by the blows.

A second video has become viral. It was performed by Joshua Holt, former Mayor of San Cristobal Daniel Ceballos and activists Loren Saleh and Gabriel Valles.

More than 300 jailed They took place in what they called a peaceful protest. His requests were clear: freedom for political prisonersaccess to justice for detainees who have reported a delay in proceedings and who, at that time, had an exit card. They also demanded the presence of the country's Attorney General to ensure respect for the rights of detainees.

Months later, a similar situation occurred. On July 9 of the same year, there was a second riot. The prison dispute was motivated by the fact that the prisoners had 55 days in isolation. They were not allowed to visit relatives or lawyers.

The detainees removed the bars from the cells. They rejected the violations of their rights, the lack of medical badistance and the non-respect of the release of some of their colleagues.

The survivors of El Helicoide

The seat of the Sebin is known to be the destination of politicians, journalists and activists abducted at home in the middle of the night and ordinary citizens arrested during protests against the governmentbut they also get there ordinary criminals. Many times, their loved ones spend days without knowing their fate, until they realize that they have been taken to the dreaded Helicoid.

One of the recent cases of great international repercussion was that of the journalist Luis Carlos Díaz, arrested on March 11 and accused of having participated in the planning of the blackout that kept most of the country without light. for more than six days. After suffering tremendous international pressure, Díaz was released after a day of torture at Helicoide. Although he is on parole, I was not able to participate in demonstrations and I have to appear every eight days in court.

His case recalls that of another unsuccessful journalist, the German Billi Six, detained for four months on the spot, accused of espionage, rebellion and "violation of safe areas". Six were released from prison with precautionary measures, must be presented every 15 days and can not talk to the press about what happened.

The Helicoide brings together stories that have not been told yet. Year after year, those who cross it and have the happiness of being released tell their experiences with the fear of being repeated.