Renzo Huamanchumo Castillo is a person released from the Chavista regime who described how the prison guard Nahuel Gallo lives in El Rodeo 1
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Renzo Huamanchumo Castillo is a Peruvian-American citizen recently released by Nicolás Maduro's regime. He was the first to describe what life is like for Argentine gendarme Nahuel Gallo, who was kidnapped in El Rodeo 1 prison.
Huamanchumo Castillo spent 300 days in detention —since September 2024— and shared hallways and cells with him. "Nahuel and I were very close. (...) He was next to me and I want people to know what the reality is," he told TN.
At first, he could only hear him: "We heard voices, but we couldn't see the face." Two weeks later, the regime transferred Gallo to the cell in front of his. "It wasn't until week two that they put him in the cell across from mine and I was able to see Gallo and complete who he is."
Renzo Huamanchumo Castillo, el detenido en Venezuela que brindó testimonio sobre Gallo
According to Huamanchumo Castillo, Gallo keeps an unbreakable spirit despite the prison conditions. "Despite everything, he has an unbelievable attitude. He is a person who is very proud to be Argentine."
Singing the National Anthem as an Act of Resistance
Renzo recounted an episode that marked all the political detainees: one night, to challenge the regime, they decided to sing their national anthems.
"We started singing our anthems and Gallo joined in," he recalled. He added: "They couldn't silence us. Gallo was one of the important people in that hallway."
Nahuel Gallo, detenido en diciembre de 2024, cantó el Himno argentino como forma de resistencia
The former detainee insisted that he needs the world to know what is happening in Venezuelan political prisons: "I still can't say that I'm happy or at peace knowing that Nahuel and my wife are there. The world needs to know what's happening in Venezuela."
Baseless Accusations and Inhuman Torture Inside the Prison
Huamanchumo Castillo traveled to Venezuela to propose to his partner, Carolina Chirinos Zambrano, who remains detained. Both were kidnapped without a court order.
He was never allowed to call his family or access consular assistance. His phone was taken and unlocked using his face. When they saw work photos of him wearing tactical gear in the United States, the regime falsely accused him of being a spy.
"They told me I was a commando, that I was on a mission," he recounted. First, they incriminated him for espionage and then, in a hearing without any guarantees, charged him with four terrorism offenses. Chirinos and other Venezuelans were also charged with "treason."
Regarding what he experienced, he described: "It was a horror movie you can't imagine." He avoided going into details, but made it clear that he suffered torture: "It started in September 2022 from the day I was kidnapped until the last day; if it wasn't mental torture, it was physical."
He stated that he never saw daylight and only left his cell three times. "I felt like I was never going to leave that place, at least alive."
Gendarme Gallo and a Firm Demand from Argentina and the United States
Nahuel Gallo has been detained since December 8, 2024. He had tried to enter Venezuela from Colombia, via the Francisco de Paula Santander International Bridge, when the Chavista narco-dictatorship detained him without cause and kept him incommunicado.
Since then, the Argentine government has demanded his release and reported his forced disappearance to the OAS. The White House also demanded his release as part of negotiations between Donald Trump and Nicolás Maduro.
Patricia Bullrich y Luis Petri.
Gallo is a first corporal, originally from Catamarca, a member of Squadron 27 "Uspallata" in Mendoza. He guarded the crossing between Chile and Argentina. He was on leave, with authorization from the Gendarmerie, and traveled legitimately to Venezuela to visit his partner and son.
He had no connection to intelligence missions or official activities.
Nahuel Gallo's detention has become a symbol of the Venezuelan regime's systematic abuse of power. Nicolás Maduro's narco-dictatorship crossed every possible line regarding human rights: arbitrary detention, incommunicado status, fabricated accusations, hearings without guarantees, and practices of physical and psychological torture.
However, no international human rights organization has spoken out for him. The silence is absolute.
Gallo iba a ver a su familia cuando fue detenido.
Meanwhile, Gallo remains locked up in a prison where all basic standards of human dignity are violated. Until he regains his freedom, we Argentines have the responsibility to make visible and denounce what is happening behind closed doors in the narco-dictatorship.
