A year after his arrest Gendarmerie Nahuel Agustin Gallo in VenezuelaHis former cellmate spoke up and revealed the matter Inhumane conditions Who lived in a maximum security prison Rodeo 1. It’s about to Edwin Ivan Colmenaresa Colombian lawyer who was illegally imprisoned but recently released.
Colmenares met Gallo in prison. He had been arrested a month earlier, in November 2024, when he entered Venezuelan territory to go to an area of his country that was easy to do, due to geography and connectivity, by crossing to the other side of the border. In a similar way to what happened to the Argentine police Accused of being a terrorist And love dropping To a government Nicolas MaduroHowever, he was never allowed access to a defense lawyer, and procedural safeguards were not respected.
El Rodeo is not a nice place. Prisoners pass 23 hours closed In small cells measuring two by four metres, Without being able to see the sun For more than an hour a day. In that small space, Gallo and Colmenares had to eat, shower and relieve themselves without privacy or many toiletries. They were not allowed to play board games, books, television or radio, so killing watches became a maddening task. “The damage is not only physical, but also psychological“, says the former cellmate of the Argentine gendarmerie officer who is still detained, in an interview with The Sun newspaper. Dnews.
Authoritarians don’t like this
The practice of professional and critical journalism is an essential pillar of democracy. This is why it bothers those who believe they are the bearers of the truth.
In prison, Gallo and Colmenares struck up a friendship, asking to be in a cell together. There they made dolls from what they had at hand and learned to do so Playing chess. However, nothing is enough when you miss your family and… Complete lack of communication with the outside. “His discipline and training led him to become a person Very flexible but This doesn’t mean it’s okay.. It puts a shell on the outside but on the inside it is completely undone. he I was so bored from being there, He missed his family so much“, says the Colombian.
the Unhealthiness In prison it was complete. Colmenares confirms this “They lived with diarrhoea.” Due to lack of hygiene and overcrowding, but only in cases of extreme danger were they transferred to the medical service. “I think we had this feces all over the cell because we showered, relieved ourselves, and urinated all day,” he describes. When the pipe became clogged, they had to clean it themselves but were not given enough detergent.
In El Rodeo 1 there is also Punishment cellsThey were taken when they “made a mistake” in full view of the guards. A whole day masked, isolated and handcuffed. “They took you out You left the cell naked, and they tied your hands and covered your head “They left you in the punishment cell for 24 hours, monitored by a camera, without communicating with anything,” Colmenares recalls.
Despite highlighting that Gallo was a “strong” person, his former partner suggests that he also went through a mental health crisis. “He was suffering from anxiety attacks“He became very nervous and started sweating and pacing around the cell in despair,” Colmenares says.
Perhaps one of the happiest moments they shared during that ordeal was football. “One time they played a match between Colombia and Venezuela on the loudspeaker Nahuel’s feelings and joy really touched my heart.“, recalls Colmenares.
The lawyer points out that the prison contained more than a hundred detainees, all of them of thirty different nationalities, and many of them were released through diplomacy, including American and Colombian prisoners. “The relationship between Argentina and Venezuela is broken, and that’s one of the reasons why Nahuel is still there,” he says.
After his release, he discovered that some of the pictures taken of the gendarmes in prison are the ones that are now circulating in the media. “We didn’t understand why they made so many videos of Hoyle,” he says. “They recorded him in the morning, at breakfast, at noon, and at dinner. Sometimes they even took pictures of him while he was sleeping.”
The police officer’s mother’s reaction when she heard about her former cellmate
Nahuel Gallo’s mother, Griselda Heredia, has not yet been able to contact her son; The only thing she knows about him is what the released prisoners tell her. Listening to Colmenares’ interview, he becomes sadder because he is hearing much of what he says for the first time.
She said in an interview with DNews: “It is a very strong and painful thing. I am in pain, but it is very unfortunate that people are kidnapped against their will. My son does not deserve this, the rank he has in the gendarmerie…”
Without mentioning this, but in a clear reference to Nicolas Maduro, he points out: “Do not tell me that he is a dictator. No, this is a dictator.” He is not a dictator, he is deranged and sick“.
the mom.