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Venezuelan mothers demand answers on detained deportees who died in earthquake-hit hotel
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Disasters & Emergencies

Venezuelan mothers demand answers on detained deportees who died in earthquake-hit hotel

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • Two Venezuelan mothers are demanding answers from the government regarding the detention of deportees who died in a hotel collapse during earthquakes.
  • The migrants, deported from the U.S. on June 24, were housed in a hotel that was also reportedly used for rescued individuals with drug problems.
  • Authorities have not provided information on the number of survivors or deceased from the flight, which carried 146 people.

Venezuelan mothers are demanding accountability from the government of Delcy Rodríguez concerning the fate of migrants deported from the U.S. who were housed in a hotel that collapsed during recent earthquakes. Osvadeli Núñez, mother of Daniel Núñez, questioned the detention of individuals with no criminal records in a facility guarded by the intelligence service (Sebin).

They had no criminal records, what were they doing in an improper detention, in a place... that was guarded by Sebin?

— Osvadeli NúñezA mother questioned the government's actions regarding the detained migrants.

"They had no criminal records, what were they doing in an improper detention, in a place... that was guarded by Sebin?" Núñez asked reporters. The migrants arrived at Simón Bolívar International Airport on June 24 and were subsequently transferred to a hotel in La Guaira, a state heavily impacted by the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes. Núñez stated that two months after the seismic events, authorities have failed to release information on the number of survivors or deceased from the repatriation flight that carried 146 people, according to the government's "Vuelta a la Patria" program.

We want to know why, where is that written, where is the protocol, where is the procedure for deportation and repatriation between the U.S. and Venezuela, so we know why they were like that?

— Osvadeli NúñezA mother demanded clarification on the legal basis for the migrants' detention and treatment.

Núñez described the treatment of the deportees as poor, alleging their documentation was confiscated, constituting an "improper detention." She visited the "Vuelta a la Patria" mission office in Caracas to submit a document and demand answers. "We want to know why, where is that written, where is the protocol, where is the procedure for deportation and repatriation between the U.S. and Venezuela, so we know why they were like that?" she questioned.

I know it is my son by the tattoos and because in the pocket of his shorts he had the vaccination card.

— Yusmarina MeléndezA mother described how she identified her son's body.

Yusmarina Meléndez, mother of Angelo Mejías, learned of her son's death from a survivor at the hospital. She identified her son's body in a makeshift morgue at the port of La Guaira by his tattoos and a vaccination card in his shorts pocket. Meléndez echoed the demand for an official list of names of those on the flight, including deceased and survivors. "They have to be held responsible because they were people, human beings, whom they were in charge of," she asserted.

They have to be held responsible because they were people, human beings, of whom they were in charge.

— Yusmarina MeléndezA mother demanded accountability from the authorities for the migrants' welfare.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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