Title: Venezuelan Police Gift President Maduro Model of Notorious Torture Center, El Helicoide
Date: July 18, 2023
During a police promotion ceremony held on Tuesday, July 18, officials from the Bolivarian National Police (PNB) presented President Nicolás Maduro with a model of El Helicoide, a well-known torture center operated by the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service. The event was broadcast by Venezolana de Televisión (VTV), capturing the moment when the police approached the president with the gift.
Expressing gratitude for the “institutional present,” Maduro described it as a “moral reference” and received it with affection. However, the gift immediately drew strong reactions from opposition figures and human rights activists.
Delsa Solórzano, candidate for the opposition primaries and president of the Encuentro Ciudadano party, condemned the gift, emphasizing that El Helicoide represents one of the greatest symbols of crimes against humanity committed in Venezuela. She vowed that if elected, she would close the torture center and ensure proper compensation for its victims.
Venezuelan lawyer Zair Mundaray, a former prosecutor of the Public Ministry, referred to the gift as an “atrocious act” and criticized Maduro for exhibiting a model of one of his private torture centers. He noted that El Helicoide, along with the DGCIM and other clandestine houses, has become synonymous with repression and violence under the current regime.
Journalist Carla Angola also labeled the event as macabre, accusing Maduro of displaying pride in the face of the Venezuelan people for the atrocities committed at El Helicoide. She emphasized that the torture center was nothing to be celebrated.
Elisa Trotta Gamus, a human rights defender and founding member of the Argentine Forum for Democracy in the Region, took to Twitter to express her outrage. Calling El Helicoide the “ESMA of Venezuela,” she warned that while Maduro may mock the pain today, a future democratic Venezuela will remember the atrocities committed by the regime.
El Helicoide has been identified by the UN International Independent Fact-Finding Mission as a notorious detention center where various methods and patterns of torture have been practiced. The mission’s reports document chilling accounts of suffocation, beatings, electric shocks, rape threats, forced nudity in freezing conditions, and prolonged chaining.
Public response to the gift has been divided, with critics condemning it as a glorification of human rights abuses, while others argue that it highlights the urgent need for accountability and justice for the victims of El Helicoide.
The incident serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing human rights issues plaguing Venezuela and the importance of promoting transparency and accountability in the country’s law enforcement institutions.