The Peruvian-American Renzo Yasir Huamanchumo Castillo, who traveled to Venezuela to ask for the hand of his partner and He ended up spending 10 months in detention under accusations of conspiring against the government of Nicolás Maduro, He recounted the physical and psychological punishments he suffered while he was imprisoned in El Rodeo I, in the state of Miranda.
Huamanchumo, who coincided with the Argentine gendarme Nahuel Gallo, also detained, described his confinement as a minimum space, without basic health conditions.
“Entering the cell meant taking four steps forward and three to the side. Pure cement, a horrible smell, the sound of bars and sadness in the voices,” he told the media. DNews.
He said that the inmates They had to use a hole in the floor as a bathroom and wash in the same place. Besides, the water supply was scarce. “They gave us a gallon or a liter of water, which had to last 24, sometimes 30 hours. You had to ration it because one less glass could mean not having enough for the rest of the day,” he said.
He slept on cement bunks, under permanent light, which he claims affected the detainees psychologically.
Punishments for trying to communicate with the outside world
Huamanchumo recognized that He tried to shout through the windows of the El Rodeo I prison to seek help or call the attention of nearby residents, which led to retaliation in the prison.
“That was one of the reasons I had problems. When they came to get you, you went through things that were more than torture,” he said.
The former political prisoner also described hooded transfers, permanent handcuffs and constant surveillance. “They never let me walk alone. I was always surrounded, as if it were dangerous,” he said.
In addition to the lack of water and minimal sanitary conditions, the presence of animals inside the cells was confirmed. “Once I woke up with a tarantula in front of me, the size of my hand. There was no silence or darkness. Everything was done to break you,” he said.
He was Nahuel Gallo’s cellmate in El Rodeo I
Huamanchumo shared a cell and conversations with the Argentine Nahuel Galloarrested on December 8, 2024 after entering from Colombia to visit his Venezuelan wife and young son.
Gallo was nicknamed the tiktoker because the prison staff recorded videos every time they gave him food: “They filmed every meal. We believed that these videos came from the prison, and that’s why we tried to send messages in different languages so that someone would listen.”
According to Huamanchumo, he learned phrases in other languages to denounce the situation. “Sometimes, when they were silent, I would take advantage and say: ‘They are torturing us’. That’s why they got upset with me, but it was what had to be done,” he said.
He reported that Gallo was worried about his son and his family. “We talked whole nights. He always kept hope,” he revealed.
The former hostage assures that after his release he maintains contact with other foreigners who managed to leave Venezuela, because the emotional damage does not end with his release.
He asked Latin American governments to accompany those who return, “not to leave them alone. Being there and then outside is also difficult.”
The government of Nicolás Maduro maintains that many of the foreign detainees enter the country for conspiratorial purposes, while human rights organizations denounce processes without guarantees, incommunication, and degrading prison conditions.
