On September 19, within the framework of the United Nations’ General Assembly, VOC’s partners from Voces de la Memoria held a protest in Time Square, in New York City, to request the closure of torture centers and the freedom of political prisoners in Venezuela. Multiple civil society organizations and surviving victims from “El Helicoide,” the main torture center in Venezuela and headquarters of the Bolivarian Intelligence Service came together with over 150 people attending. There was a virtual reality experience and the campaign was shown on one of Time Square’s screens giving visibility to this crucial issue.
The protest lasted two hours, with the support of the Cuban, Bolivian and Nicaraguan diaspora, and was covered by multiple networks including: Univisión, Telemundo, CDN, NTN24, VOA, CBS, as well as independent journalists, such as of Carla Angola, a Venezuelan journalist from the diaspora. The main objectives of the protests were to raise awareness among the international community and generate further pressure to the Venezuelan regime to release political prisoners.
Currently there are more than 300 political prisoners in Venezuela, and most of them are not known, therefore, few people are making the case to free them. Their basic rights are being violated daily, including the right to see their families, have regular access to water and food, access to an attorney, and the “right, in full equality, to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal,” as dictated by article 10 of the Venezuelan Constitution.
The virtual reality experience was used by more than 60 people, among whom there were protestors, journalists, and people passing by. It takes 5 minutes in its shorter version, and, without being excessively graphic, shows the horrors lived by hundreds of innocent Venezuelans, imprisoned for the crime of being outspoken against the regime. The experience is available both in English and Spanish, and there is currently one helmet at the Victims of Communism Museum that can be used with previous reservation.
