Venezuela's National Intelligence Service headquarters, known as El Helicoide, stands in front of La Cota 905 neighborhood in Caracas, Venezuela, Sept. 12, 2022. Ariana Cubillos/AP hide caption

Ariana Cubillos/AP

CARACAS, Venezuela — Jesús Armas spent 14 months inside El Helicoide, a notorious prison built on top of a massive rock in the center of the capital Caracas.

One of the things that struck him the most about the place was the lack of sunlight, and the excess of artificial lighting.

For weeks at a time, the activist was held in a small room with no windows, where he was allowed no contact with the outside world. Armas said the prison wardens never switched off the lights.

"There was always artificial light, always," Armas said, during a rally outside the prison, which has become synonymous with torture.…