Donald Trump denounced the existence of a "torture chamber in the center of Caracas" and claimed that the Venezuelan regime would be shutting it down.
Although he did not mention the place by name, many interpreted his words as a direct reference to El Helicoide, one of the most feared symbols of the repressive apparatus of Chavismo.
The statement was made during an address by the president to Republican lawmakers in Washington, where he again criticized Nicolás Maduro, whom he called "violent."
In one of the most talked-about passages of his speech, Trump stated that in the Venezuelan capital there is a center where "people have been tortured" and that, according to him, "they are closing it down."
Her words reignited international attention on El Helicoide, a building visible from various points in Caracas, and the mere mention of which sends shivers down the spines of family members of political prisoners, activists, and former detainees.
Designed in the 1950s as an ambitious spiral shopping center, El Helicoide eventually became, decades later, the headquarters of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN) and one of the country's main detention centers.
Under the governments of Hugo Chávez and, above all, Nicolás Maduro, the place became synonymous with arbitrary detentions, violent interrogations, and prolonged imprisonments.
International organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights have repeatedly documented reports of torture, beatings, electric shocks, sexual threats, isolation, and sleep deprivation within the complex.
In a 2020 report, United Nations experts classified these abuses as potential crimes against humanity, directly attributing responsibility to the Venezuelan state.
Former prisoners have described El Helicoide as "a concrete nightmare," where one can spend months or years without natural light, in overcrowded cells, extreme temperatures, and unsanitary conditions. All of this happens just a few kilometers from the Palace of Miraflores, in plain view of those in power.
So far, there is no official confirmation that El Helicoide has been closed or is in the process of closing, beyond Trump's statement. However, his words have brought to the forefront an open wound for thousands of Venezuelans and for those who have spent years denouncing what happens inside that building.
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