High on a hill in Caracas, a massive spiral of concrete dominates the skyline. El Helicoide was supposed to be the world’s first drive-through shopping mall when construction began in the 1950s. Instead, it became one of Latin America’s most notorious detention centres and, for many Venezuelans, the clearest symbol of the country’s descent into authoritarian rule, the New York Times reported.
This week, the building returned to the centre of national attention after Venezuela’s interim authorities began releasing political prisoners from two jails, including El Helicoide. As news spread, families rushed to the complex, hoping to learn whether their loved ones were among those being freed.
The releases come days after US forces captured former president Nicolás Maduro and a new interim government took charge. While officials have not announced the prison’s closure, National Assembly chief Jorge Rodríguez said an “important number” of detainees would be released. By Friday afternoon, nine prisoners had been freed.
“I believe every prisoner released deserves a celebration,” said Víctor Navarro, who spent six months inside El Helicoide in 2018. “But I cannot celebrate until everyone is free.”
A dream of modernity that curdled
El Helicoide was conceived under the military ruler Marcos Pérez Jiménez as a showcase of Venezuela’s oil-fuelled prosperity. The building wraps around a hill in a vast spiral of reinforced concrete, with more than two miles of ramps designed for cars to drive directly to shops.
“It was designed to be a place where people could freely move around,” said Lisa Blackmore, a University of Virginia professor who has studied the structure and co-edited a book on its history.
But when Pérez Jiménez was overthrown in 1958, the unfinished project was abandoned. For decades, it stood as a strange, decaying monument to an unfulfilled future.
In the 1980s, the state began moving government agencies into the building, including the intelligence services now known as SEBIN. Over time, it was transformed into a detention centre. Under Hugo Chávez, it drew growing criticism. Under Maduro, it became infamous.
A centre of political repression
After mass protests erupted in 2014, many detainees were taken to El Helicoide. The flow of prisoners increased again after Maduro claimed victory in the disputed 2024 election and launched a sweeping crackdown on dissent.
Human rights groups say the complex has held dozens of political prisoners at any given time, including journalists, students, activists and opposition figures. Detainees are often charged with vague crimes such as incitement, terrorism or conspiracy.
Navarro recalls being held in a small cell with 16 other men, including minors. “They put a gun in my mouth, beat my face and kicked me,” he said.
In 2012, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ordered Venezuela to improve conditions there, calling them inhumane and degrading. Little changed.
A United Nations fact-finding mission later documented torture methods including electric shocks, asphyxiation and stress positions, as well as sexual abuse and extreme unsanitary conditions. In 2021, General Raúl Isaías Baduel died in custody there after being denied medical care. Another opposition figure, Alfredo Díaz, died at the facility in December.
“El Helicoide is brutal,” said Francisco Cox, a former member of the UN investigation team, which based its findings on testimony from nearly 500 victims and witnesses.
A place that still inspires fear
Even court-ordered releases were often ignored, according to investigators, sometimes after direct political intervention by senior officials including Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello.
For people who lived nearby, the prison’s presence was a daily reminder of the state’s power. Navarro grew up close to the building. After his release, he left the country.
“The possibility of El Helicoide being closed, that torture centre being shut down, is what gives me a sense of relief,” he said. “It changed my life. I will never be the same.”
What happens next
For now, El Helicoide remains standing, its future uncertain. The new authorities have not said whether it will be closed or repurposed. But for families waiting outside its gates, even a small number of releases feels like a crack in a long-sealed wall.
The building that once promised a gleaming consumer future became a warehouse for fear. Whether it can now become a symbol of Venezuela’s political opening remains an unanswered question.
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