In a grim Venezuelan prison, inmates face horrific abuses, including beatings, rapes, and degrading treatment. El Helicoide prison, situated in the capital city, Caracas, was originally designed as a spiral-shaped shopping center but has transformed into a place of extreme torture under the rule of Nicolás Maduro.
Originally planned as a modern shopping destination with 300 boutiques and unique spiral ramps in the 1950s, El Helicoide is now notorious as a living hell. Inmates endure various forms of torture, such as the “Russian” or “white torture,” involving isolation in small, windowless cells painted entirely in white with relentless bright lights, leading to disorientation and hallucinations.
Reports from The Telegraph revealed shocking details of the prison, with prisoners waking up to find their fellow inmates bloodied and unconscious on the floor. Rosmit Mantilla, a Venezuelan opposition figure who spent time in El Helicoide, disclosed harrowing accounts of electrocutions and rapes with rifles within the facility.
Describing the appalling conditions, Mantilla mentioned a cell known as “el infiernito” (little hell) due to its lack of ventilation and constant bright illumination. Inmates were forced to urinate where they stored food due to severe overcrowding, leaving them with barely any space to even lie down.
Despite being mostly vacant for years, El Helicoide saw an influx of government agencies, including the nation’s intelligence service, SEBIN, in the 1980s. Recent military actions in Venezuela, led by Donald Trump, resulted in moves towards freeing some inmates, with conflicting reports on the actual number of releases by different sources.
The situation in El Helicoide remains dire, with human rights groups highlighting discrepancies in the reported figures of released prisoners. The recent military intervention offers a glimmer of hope to the families of inmates, albeit amidst ongoing uncertainty and scrutiny over the handling of the crisis.