Kathrine Frich
A hulking, unfinished building in central Caracas has long carried a reputation that chilled families and activists alike.
Now, as Venezuela enters a volatile transition, that structure is again at the center of the country’s reckoning with its recent past.
What happens there next is being watched as a test of the new authorities’ intentions.
A fortress in the city
Venezuela’s interim authorities have started releasing political detainees from El Helicoide, a notorious detention complex that became a symbol of repression under Nicolás Maduro’s 11-year rule, the Daily Express reported.
El Helicoide was originally planned in the 1950s as a drive-in shopping mall during an oil-boom era, but the project was never completed.
Its single access point and maze of ramps and tunnels later made it attractive to security services. By the mid-1980s, intelligence agencies had taken it over, and under Maduro it grew into a key holding site, the report said.
Releases after capture
The Daily Express linked the releases to Maduro’s dramatic capture by U.S. forces earlier this month and his transfer to face charges in the United States.
The interim leadership, backed by Washington, said an “important number” of people were being freed as part of national reconciliation efforts.
Officials claimed more than 400 prisoners had been released nationwide by mid-week, though independent rights groups said they could confirm only a portion of that figure.
Names and numbers
Foro Penal, a Caracas-based NGO, said 804 political prisoners were still being held across Venezuela in early January, with dozens detained at El Helicoide.
Those reported as released from the site included former presidential candidate Enrique Marquez and former lawmaker Biagio Pilieri, both associated with opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.
Rights monitors said detainees were moved in unmarked vehicles, with limited transparency around the process.
Survivor accounts linger
A Financial Times investigation by Joe Daniels and Ana Rodríguez Brazón described El Helicoide as a place of extreme abuse, citing survivor testimony.
Activist Villca Fernandez, held there from January 2016 to June 2018, said he was welcomed with “Welcome to hell”.
A United Nations fact-finding mission documented areas used for “cruel punishment and indescribable suffering”, and rights groups have reported at least one death in custody at the facility.
Sources: Daily Express, Financial Times, Foro Penal, United Nations
