‘It pains our souls': Venezuelans react to first video of relatives in Salvadoran prison after Matt Gaetz TV report
'Among the boys, I recognized my son,' Cacique López said to CNN. 'We thank God for allowing us to see our relatives, even in those conditions,' she added, insisting that she will continue to pray for their release.
The video aired Tuesday on the One America News Network, on a show hosted by former US Republican congressman Matt Gaetz. He visited Cecot and had access to the prison wing housing the group of more than 200 Venezuelans deported by President Donald Trump's administration, many under the controversial use of the Alien Enemies Act, accused largely without evidence of being members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
The report shows a roughly one-minute clip of the Venezuelans behind bars, dressed in white T-shirts and shorts, the Cecot prisoners' uniform. From the moment the TV cameras enter the prison, the detainees react with shouts of 'Freedom, freedom!' and 'Venezuela!' while another group makes a fist with four fingers over their thumbs, a universal gesture asking of help.
Yenni Luz Rincón Ramírez identified her brother Jonathan Miguel Ramírez in the video. 'I felt joy because I was finally able to see him after 60 days,' she told CNN from Venezuela. She insisted that her brother's detention is unjust and asserted that he is not a member of Tren de Aragua.
Rincón Ramírez isn't the only one who's been able to see a loved one for the first time since the deportations were announced in March.
Blanca Martínez told CNN that she learned her partner Miguel Ángel Rojas had been deported to El Salvador through a list published by media outlets. She hadn't heard from him since. So far, neither the US nor the Salvadoran government has published official lists with the names of those deported to Cecot.
'It made me sad to see him there without knowing how he really is,' Martínez said, adding that Rojas suffers from depression and that knowing he is detained at Cecot causes her great anguish.
Angie Ríos, a US citizen, told CNN in a telephone interview that she recognized her husband Jesús Ríos in the video. 'I saw him and I heard him,' she said. 'He's the most handsome of all,' she said affectionately about her partner. Ríos added the last time she saw her husband was on March 15. 'He's in survival mode,' Ríos said when she saw Jesús, saying he was one of the detainees shouting 'Freedom!'
'I feel like in that video he's fighting for his voice to be heard.'
CNN has not been able to verify whether these individuals have criminal records in the US and has contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
Following the release of the video, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro again condemned what he considers to be a kidnapping of Venezuelan citizens to El Salvador.
'I swear that we will rescue the 253 Venezuelans kidnapped in El Salvador, in concentration camps, as seen today,' he said on Tuesday. 'Let us demand that these young people who are kidnapped without trial, without the right to appear before a judge, without the right to a defense, without having committed any crime, be released immediately. And we are ready to pick them up on a Venezuelan plane and bring them back to their families,' he added.
CNN has reached out to the Salvadoran presidency for comment on Maduro's statements.
In April, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele proposed to Maduro an exchange of people deported to and detained in his country and for what he considers 'political prisoners' of the Venezuelan government. Maduro responded by demanding access to the prisoners for lawyers and family members.
In March, El Salvador agreed to detain in Cecot up to 300 immigrants sent by the Trump administration. El Salvador would receive approximately $6 million from the US to hold them there, according to an agreement between the two governments.
Osmary Hernández and Caroll Alvarado contributed to this report.
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