Overview
- President Donald Trump described El Helicoide as a "torture chamber" and said the Caracas facility is being closed, offering no specifics on timing or process.
- Activists and human-rights organizations say they have seen no independent evidence of a shutdown and report no official moves by Venezuelan authorities.
- Reports indicate U.S. forces captured Nicolás Maduro, with uncertainty persisting over how the new power structure will handle political detainees.
- Delcy Rodríguez’s government issued a decree to pursue anyone tied to the U.S. action, and at her swearing-in at least a dozen journalists were briefly detained.
- El Helicoide, a 1950s mall project later used by SEBIN, has been repeatedly cited by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and others for torture and ill-treatment, as groups estimate more than 800 political prisoners remain in Venezuela.