From Architectural Jewel to Repression Symbol in Venezuela
It holds 65 political prisoners
Family members of political prisoners in Venezuela are waiting for releases to occur.
HAVANA TIMES — When architects Jorge Romero, Pedro Neuberger and Dirk Bornhorst conceived El Helicoide de la Roca Tarpeya in 1956 as an ode to Venezuela’s progress, modernity, and avant-gardism, they never imagined that 61 years later it would end up as a center of repression, censorship, and torture in the country.
What was originally planned as the most modern and cutting-edge shopping mall in Latin America, according to data from the NGO Justicia Encuentro y Perdón, is today a repressive center where 65 people are being held for political reasons, victims of torture and enforced disappearances under the command of Nicolás Maduro’s government, captured by the United States on January 3.
El Helicoide is the main headquarters of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin) and the place where Venezuela’s most emblematic political prisoners have been detained.
Following the anti-government protests of 2014, El Helicoide ceased to be an engineering landmark and became a space of oppression. The corridors that were supposed to house shops and tourists became the setting for the cruelest accounts of hundreds of torture victims.
After the events of January 3 in Caracas and the statements by President Donald Trump on January 7—where he stated that a “torture chamber” in the country’s capital would be shut down—human rights organizations and relatives of political prisoners are waiting to see whether releases from El Helicoide will take place.
In addition, on Tuesday, January 6, a police source told Efecto Cocuyo that the evacuation of the police headquarters had been ordered.
El Helicoide according to the UN
In various reports, the UN’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission highlights that El Helicoide is one of the main centers of arbitrary detention and torture run by Sebin.
For international organizations, the structure represents a fundamental link in the State’s repressive apparatus.
UN documentation describes the facility not only as a prison, but as a space designed for human degradation.
In its 2020 report, the UN documented the existence of punishment cells such as “El Tigrito,” spaces without ventilation or natural light where detainees are subjected to inhumane conditions and extreme overcrowding.
According to testimonies gathered by the Mission, systematic torture takes place in El Helicoide’s basements, including suffocation, electric shocks, and physical violence aimed at extracting confessions or punishing political dissent.
In most of its reports referencing that headquarters of Venezuela’s political police, the UN notes that what happens inside does not constitute a series of isolated abuses, but rather part of a coordinated pattern of conduct from the highest levels of power.
The UN warns that there are “reasonable grounds to believe” that crimes against humanity have been committed in the building.
Some detainees
For this report, the Efecto Cocuyo team highlighted the stories of 10 of the 65 political prisoners, including dissidents and human rights defenders held behind the bars of El Helicoide:
🚨 Enrique Márquez
The former presidential candidate and former vice president of the National Electoral Council (CNE) marks one year in captivity in El Helicoide today, after being arbitrarily detained on January 7, 2025, by State security agents (identified as paramilitary groups and Sebin officials) in an operation his family described as a “kidnapping,” just 48 hours before Nicolas Maduro’s controversial swearing-in for another term.
The main reason for his detention was his stance against the official results of the July 2024 elections; Marquez not only refused to validate the CNE’s announcement but led a legal campaign demanding the publication of voting records and filed nullity appeals before the Supreme Court denouncing the opacity of the process.
🚨 Eduardo Torres
Lawyer and activist with the NGO Provea, Eduardo Torres is being held in El Helicoide after being the victim of an arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance for over 90 hours that began on May 9, 2024, in Parque Central, Caracas.
His arrest—denounced as cruel and inhumane treatment—stemmed from his work as a human rights defender, unionist, and a voice representing persecuted public-sector workers.
Attorney General Tarek William Saab accused him of using training workshops as a “front” for supposed plans of violence. Despite having precautionary measures from the IACHR since 2024, Maduro’s government charged him with conspiracy, terrorism, and treason as part of a broader persecution of NGOs.
🚨 Dignora Hernández
The national political secretary of Vente Venezuela marks one year and nearly ten months of arbitrary detention in El Helicoide’s basements this January 7, 2026, after her violent arrest on March 20, 2024.
Her detention was part of a crackdown on María Corina Machado’s campaign team and she was accused by the Prosecutor’s Office of participating in alleged conspiratorial plans to generate violence.
Her arrest was recorded and went viral due to her screams for help. Hernández remains in critical conditions, according to complaints by relatives and organizations such as Provea and Foro Penal.
🚨 Perkins Rocha
The lawyer and liaison for Maria Corina Machado’s campaign to the CNE marks one year and over four months of arbitrary detention and incommunicado status in El Helicoide, after being detained by hooded men on August 27, 2024.
His detention came shortly after he publicly questioned the electoral results, leading Maduro’s authorities to charge him with terrorism, treason, and conspiracy.
His wife, Maria Constanza Cipriani, has repeatedly denounced that the lawyer remains under forced isolation, without access to lawyers of his choosing, and with extremely restricted family visits.
🚨 Rocío San Miguel
Human rights lawyer and president of the NGO Control Ciudadano, Rocío San Miguel has spent nearly two years (23 months) in arbitrary detention in El Helicoide. She was detained on February 9, 2024, at Maiquetía Airport.
She was accused by Maduro’s authorities of “terrorism,” “conspiracy,” and “treason” for her alleged involvement in a plot to assassinate Nicolas Maduro. Her case has been described by the UN and several international organizations as an “orchestrated detention” to silence one of the country’s top experts on military and security issues.
During this period, San Miguel has faced total periods of incommunicado detention and the denial of her right to a private defense of her choosing.
🚨 Carlos Julio Rojas
The journalist and community activist marks 21 months of arbitrary detention in El Helicoide today. He was arrested on April 15, 2024, by Sebin agents in downtown Caracas.
The National Association of Journalists (CNP) and human rights organizations have repeatedly demanded proof that he is alive due to prolonged incommunicado periods and the lack of official information about his physical condition.
Maduro’s government linked him to an alleged plan to assassinate the president during a march. He was charged with terrorism, criminal association, and conspiracy.
🚨 Henry Alviarez
The national organization coordinator of Vente Venezuela marks one year and nearly ten months of imprisonment in El Helicoide as of January 7, 2026. He was detained on March 20, 2024.
His arrest coincided with that of Dignora Hernández in an operation that the opposition described as part of a systematic persecution campaign to dismantle María Corina Machado’s political leadership structure.
Despite his importance as one of the country’s main organizational strategists, Alviarez remains held in isolation, facing accusations of conspiracy and terrorism without access to a private defense.
🚨 María Oropeza
The young leader and regional coordinator of Vente Venezuela in the state of Portuguesa marks one year and five months of detention in El Helicoide, after her widely publicized arrest on the night of August 6, 2024.
Her case went viral internationally because she livestreamed the moment State security agents broke down her door without a warrant. After her arrest, she was charged with terrorism, incitement to hatred, and conspiracy.
Her defense and family denounced that she has been held in isolation and that her detention serves as exemplary punishment against young political leaders and regional voices who used social media to denounce electoral irregularities.
🚨 Nélida Sánchez
The national training coordinator of the technical electoral organization Súmate has spent one year and over four months in arbitrary detention in El Helicoide, after being arrested on August 26, 2024. Her detention occurred amid the persecution of electoral experts and civil society actors who audited and questioned the technical processes of the presidential elections.
Despite Súmate being an NGO with decades of experience defending political rights, the State charged her with criminal association, terrorism, treason, and incitement to hatred.
🚨 Gregorio “Goyo” Graterol
The former deputy and regional coordinator of the party Primero Justicia in the state of Falcón has spent one year and four months in arbitrary detention in El Helicoide. He was arrested on August 30, 2024.
His detention took place in the wave of post-electoral persecution that targeted regional opposition leaderships, and the regime accused him of participating in supposed destabilization plots.
Graterol, one of the most consistent political voices in western Venezuela, was transferred to the Sebin headquarters in Caracas, where he remains in precarious detention conditions, according to complaints from his party.
Just as the architects and engineers who created El Helicoide will not be forgotten, the names and stories of the other 55 political prisoners not mentioned in this article will neither be forgotten by their families nor by the NGOs fighting for their release. They will be known as survivors of the terror generated by Nicolas Maduro’s political oppression.
First published in Spanish by Efecto Cocuyo of Venezuela and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.