Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Venezuela’s Interim President Orders El Helicoide Closed, Unveils Amnesty Proposal

The announcement targets a site long tied to torture allegations, with execution details still unverified.

Overview

  • In a speech to the Supreme Court, Delcy Rodríguez said El Helicoide will cease operating as a detention center and be converted into a social, sports, cultural and commercial complex.
  • Rodríguez also proposed a general amnesty covering acts related to political violence from 1999 to the present.
  • Human-rights organizations have documented torture and political detentions at the SEBIN-run facility, where prisoners including Fernando Albán and Raúl Isaías Baduel died in custody.
  • Reports provide no timeline for vacating security agencies or releasing named detainees said to be held there, and no independent access or monitoring has been confirmed.
  • Opposition leader María Corina Machado attributes the amnesty push to U.S. pressure, and U.S. ambassador Laura Dogu has arrived in Caracas to work on reopening the American mission.