Latest news with #NicolásMaduro
Fox News
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Fox News
US accuses Venezuelan regime of narco-terrorism over alliances with Tren de Aragua, Sinaloa Cartel
The U.S. government has named the Cartel de los Soles, a Venezuela-based criminal group led by President Nicolás Maduro, a global terrorist organization. Cartel de los Soles, or Cartel of the Suns, is being sanctioned by the U.S. for providing support to foreign terrorist organizations, including the violent Tren de Aragua and Sinaloa Cartel, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. "Today's action further exposes the illegitimate Maduro regime's facilitation of narco-terrorism through terrorist groups like Cartel de los Soles," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. "The Treasury Department will continue to execute on President Donald Trump's pledge to put America First by cracking down on violent organizations, including Tren de Aragua, the Sinaloa Cartel and their facilitators, like Cartel de los Soles." Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang, is involved in a range of criminal activities, including human smuggling and the illicit drug trade. The Sinaloa Cartel, a violent and powerful Mexican cartel, is responsible for trafficking drugs like fentanyl into the U.S., according to the Treasury Department. In an X post, the Drug Enforcement Administration wrote that it is seeking information leading to the arrests and convictions of Maduro, Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace Diosdado Cabello Rondón and Minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino López. In January, the U.S. increased an reward to $25 million for information leading to Maduro's arrest and/or conviction. The U.S. has not recognized Maduro as the Venezuelan president since 2019. In May, the U.S. advised citizens to avoid traveling to Venezuela and its borders. According to the U.S. Department of State, citizens were warned not to travel to Venezuela due to severe risks, including wrongful detention, torture in detention, terrorism, kidnapping, arbitrary enforcement of local laws, crime, civil unrest and poor health infrastructure.
Epoch Times
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Epoch Times
US Reaffirms ‘Unwavering Support' for Restoration of Democracy, Justice in Venezuela
The U.S. State Department issued a statement on July 27 reaffirming that the United States remains steadfast in its support for the restoration of democracy and justice in Venezuela, one year after the election that saw leader Nicolás Maduro remain at the helm. 'One year since dictator Nicolás Maduro defied the will of the Venezuelan people by baselessly declaring himself the winner, the United States remains firm in its unwavering support to Venezuela's restoration of democratic order and justice,' the statement reads.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Men freed from El Salvador mega-prison endured ‘state-sanctioned torture', lawyers say
Venezuelans that the Trump administration expelled to El Salvador's most notorious megaprison endured 'state-sanctioned torture', lawyers for some of the men have said, as more stories emerge about the horrors they faced during capacity. When José Manuel Ramos Bastidas – one of 252 Venezuelan men that the US sent to El Salvador's most notorious mega-prison – finally made it back home to El Tocuyo on Tuesday, the first thing he did was stretch his arms around his family. His wife, son and mother were wearing the bright blue shirts they had printed with a photo of him, posed in a yellow and black moto jacket and camo-print jeans. It was the first time they had hugged him since he left Venezuela last year. And it was the first time they could be sure – truly sure – that he was alive and well since he disappeared into the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (Cecot) in March. 'We have been waiting for this moment for months, and I feel like I can finally breathe,' said Roynerliz Rodríguez, Ramos Bastidas's partner. 'These last months have been a living nightmare, not knowing anything about José Manuel and only imagining what he must be suffering. I am happy he is free from Cecot, but I also know that we will never be free of the shadow of this experience. There must be justice for all those who suffered this torture.' The Venezuelan deportees were repatriated last week following a deal between the US and Venezuelan governments. Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan president, negotiated a prisoner swap that released 10 American citizens in his custody and dozens of Venezuelan political prisoners in exchange for the release of his citizens from Cecot. This week, after undergoing medical and background checks, they are finally reuniting with their families. Their testimonies of what they experienced inside Cecot are providing the first, most detailed pictures of the conditions inside Cecot, a mega-prison that human rights groups say is designed to disappear people. Ramos Bastidas and other US deportees were told that they were condemned to spend 30 to 90 years in Cecot unless the US president ordered otherwise, he told his lawyers. They were shot with rubber bullets on repeated occasions – including on Friday, during their last day of detention. In interviews with the media and in testimony provided to their lawyers, other detainees described lengthy beatings and humiliation by guards. After some detainees tried to break the locks on their cell, prisoners were beaten for six consecutive days, the Atlantic reports. Male guards reportedly brought in female colleagues, who beat the naked prisoners and recorded videos. Edicson David Quintero Chacón, a US deportee, said that he was placed in isolation for stretches of time, during which he thought he would die, his lawyer told the Guardian. Quintero Chacón, who has scars from daily beatings, also said that he and other inmates were only provided soap and an opportunity to bathe on days when visitors were touring the prison – forcing them to choose between hygiene and public humiliation. Food was limited, and the drinking water was dirty, Quintero Chacón and other detainees have said. Lights were on all night, so detainees could never fully rest. 'And the guards would also come in at night and beat them at night,' said his lawyer Stephanie M Alvarez-Jones, the south-east regional attorney at the National Immigration Project. In a filing asking for a dismissal of her months-long petition on behalf of her clients' release, Alvarez-Jones wrote: 'He will likely carry the psychological impact of this torture his whole life. The courts must never look away when those who wield the power of the US government, at the highest levels, engage in such state-sanctioned violence.' Ramos Bastidas has never been convicted of any crimes in the US (or in any country). In fact, he had never really set foot in the US as a free man. In El Tocuyo, in the Venezuelan state of Lara, and had been working since he was a teenager to support his family. Last year, he decided to leave his country – which has yet to recover from an economic collapse – to seek better income, so he could pay for medical care for his infant with severe asthma. In March 2024, he arrived at the US-Mexico border and presented himself at a port of entry. He made an appointment using the now-defunct CBP One phone application to apply for asylum – but immigration officials and a judge determined that he did not qualify. But Customs and Border Protection agents had flagged Ramos Bastidas as a possible member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, based on an unsubstantiated report from Panamanian officials and his tattoos. So they transferred him to a detention facility, where he was to remain until he could be deported. Despite agreeing to return to Venezuela, he remained for months in detention. 'I think what is particularly enraging for José is that he had accepted his deportation,' said Alvarez-Jones. 'He was asking for his deportation for a long time, and he just wanted to go back home.' In December, Venezuela wasn't accepting deportees – so Ramos Bastidas asked if he could be released and make his own way home. A month later, Donald Trump was sworn in as president. Everything changed. Ramos Bastidas began to see other Venezuelans were being sent to the military base in Guantánamo Bay in Cuba – and he feared the same would happen to him. On 14 March, he shared with his family that maybe he would be able to come back to Venezuela after all, after officials began prepping him for deportation. The next day, he was flown to Cecot. 'They could have deported him to Venezuela,' Alvarez-Jones. 'Instead, the US government made a determination to send him to be tortured in Cecot.'
Miami Herald
6 days ago
- Miami Herald
Former U.S. marine freed in Venezuela-U.S. prisoner swap was convicted of triple murder
One of the 10 American citizens or residents freed by the government of Nicolás Maduro in a recent high-profile prisoner exchange with the United States was a fugitive convicted of a triple murder in Spain, according to reports by Venezuelan and Spanish media outlets. Dahud Hanid Ortiz, 54, a former U.S. Marine born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, was convicted of killing three people in Madrid in 2016. He was sentenced by a Venezuelan court to 30 years in prison on July 22, according to court documents and statements by the victims' families. Ortiz, who holds U.S. and German citizenship, was among those repatriated to the United States on July 18 as part of a prisoner swap. The deal involved the release of 252 Venezuelan nationals who had been held in a maximum-security prison in El Salvador, many of them accused by U.S. officials of allegedly being criminals or part of the feared Tren de Aragua gang. Ortiz is currently believed to be in Texas, where he landed after his release. As of press time, the U.S. State Department had not provided information about his legal status, or whether he remains in custody. A former combat veteran, Ortiz served in Iraq and South Korea and was awarded the Purple Heart. However, he was dishonorably discharged from the U.S. Army after being found guilty of falsifying documents related to his residence and military record. After being discharged from the marines, his personal life unraveled. His relationship with a German doctor, Irina Trippel, crumbled, and when she began a new love life with Peruvian lawyer, Víctor Yoel Salas Cobeñas, the former Marine reacted with obsessive fury. On June 22, 2016, Ortiz executed a meticulous and bloody plan in Madrid, according to court documents. He showed up at the lawyer's office and, mistaking an Ecuadorian client for his romantic rival, murdered him. He then attacked and killed two women who worked in the office: Maritza Osorio Riverón, a secretary, and Elisa Consuegra Gálvez, a lawyer and Salas's partner. Before fleeing, he set fire to the office and left a fake business card with the logo of a supposed Mexican cartel, attempting to mislead the investigation. Following the attack, Ortiz fled Spain. An international arrest warrant was issued, and he was eventually detained in 2018 by Venezuelan authorities during a routine security operation in the state of Bolívar. For years, Ortiz was held in the Caracas headquarters of Venezuela's Military Counterintelligence Directorate, initially under suspicion of espionage. In December 2021, Venezuelan and international media revealed Ortiz's identity and the charges against him. According to media reports, he had been using false identities and speaking multiple languages while detained, including Spanish, English, German and Russian. He was tried and sentenced in Venezuela rather than in Spain for the crimes committed in Madrid because the Venezuelan Constitution prohibits the extradition of Venezuelan-born citizens, but the country's laws allows Venezuelan citizens to be prosecuted for crimes committed abroad. Ortiz was sentenced in January 2024 to 30 years in prison, the maximum sentence provided for in Venezuelan law, on charges of homicide and arson. On June 1 of this year, Ortiz was removed from his cell and taken to a separate location where he recorded video messages addressed to U.S. officials, claiming to be in poor health and without access to food or medicine. Sources familiar with the situation said he was instructed to follow a prepared script. The decision to include Ortiz in the prisoner exchange has drawn criticism from relatives of the victims. Salas, the Madrid-based attorney whose law office was the site of the attack, spoke publicly after receiving confirmation of Ortiz's sentence. 'We all feel deceived, betrayed and defrauded,' Salas said during an interview with the Spanish television program Vamos a Ver. 'Dahud Hanid Ortiz was never a political prisoner. He was a convicted and sentenced murderer. The court documents make that absolutely clear.' Salas also questioned the involvement of former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who reportedly played a mediating role in the negotiation between Venezuela and the United States. He urged all parties involved to take steps to acknowledge and rectify what he described as a miscarriage of justice.
Washington Post
6 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Venezuela's returning migrants allege abuses in El Salvador's 'hell' prison where US sent them
LOBATERA, Venezuela — Carlos Uzcátegui tightly hugged his sobbing wife and stepdaughter on Wednesday as the morning fog in western Venezuela lifted. The family's first embrace in more than a year finally convinced him that his nightmare inside a prison in El Salvador was over. Uzcátegui was among the migrants being reunited with loved ones after four months in prison in El Salvador , where the U.S. government transferred them in one of its boldest moves to crack down on immigration. 'Every day, we asked God for the blessing of freeing us from there so that we could be here with family, with my loved ones,' Uzcátegui, 33, said. 'Every day, I woke up looking at the bars, wishing I wasn't there.' 'They beat us, they kicked us. I even have quite a few bruises on my stomach,' he added before later showing a mildly bruised left abdomen. The migrants, some of whom characterized the prison as 'hell,' were freed Friday in a prisoner swap between the U.S. and Venezuelan governments , but the latter sequestered them upon arrival to their country. Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro and other officials have said many of the immigrants were physically and psychologically tortured during their detention in El Salvador, airing on state television videos of some of the men describing the alleged abuse, including rape, severe beatings and pellet-gun wounds. The narratives are reminiscent of the abuses that Maduro's government has long been accused of committing against its real or perceived, jailed opponents . As the men reached their homes, they and their relatives shared deeply emotional moments in which sad tears and happy tears rolled down their cheeks at the same time. Uzcátegui's wife, Gabriela Mora, 30, held onto their home's fence and sobbed as she saw the military vehicle carrying him approach after a 30-plus-hour bus ride to their mining community nestled in Venezuela's Andean mountains. She had set up gifts and decorations in their living room, including a star-shaped metallic blue balloon with a 'Happy Father's Day' greeting that his stepdaughter had saved since the June holiday. The 252 men ended in El Salvador on March 16 after the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to pay $6 million to the Central American nation to house them in a mega-prison , where human rights groups have documented hundreds of deaths and cases of torture . Trump accused the men of belonging to the violent Tren de Aragua street gang, which originated in Venezuela. The administration did not provide evidence to back up the accusation. However, several recently deported migrants have said U.S. authorities wrongly judged their tattoos and used them as an excuse to deport them. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello on Friday said only seven of the men had pending cases in Venezuela, adding that all the deportees would undergo medical tests and background checks before they could go home. Arturo Suárez, whose reggaeton songs surfaced on social media after he was sent to El Salvador, arrived at his family's working-class home in the capital, Caracas, on Tuesday. His sister hugged him after he exited a vehicle of Venezuela's intelligence service. 'It is hell. We met a lot of innocent people,' Suárez told reporters, referring to the prison he was held in. 'To all those who mistreated us, to all those who negotiated with our lives and our freedom, I have one thing to say, and scripture says it well: Vengeance and justice is mine, and you are going to give an account to God Father.' The Associated Press could not verify the abuse allegations that Suárez and other migrants narrated in the videos aired by state media. Attorney General Tarek William Saab on Monday said he had opened an investigation against El Salvador President Nayib Bukele based on the deportees' allegations. Bukele's office did not respond to requests for comment. The men left El Salvador as part of a prisoner exchange with the U.S. , which received 10 citizens and permanent residents whom Maduro's government had jailed over accusations of plotting to destabilize Venezuela. Mora said her husband migrated after the coal mine he had long worked at halved his pay and their street food shop went out of business in 2023. Uzcátegui left Lobatera in March 2024 with an acquaintance's promise to help him find a construction job in Orlando. On his way north, Uzcátegui crossed the punishing Darien Gap that separates Colombia and Panama, and by mid-April he had reached Mexico City. There, he worked at a public market's seafood stall until early December, when he was finally granted an appointment through a U.S. government smartphone app to seek asylum at a border crossing. But Uzcátegui never walked free in the U.S., where authorities regarded his tattoos with suspicion, said Mara. He was sent to a detention center in Texas until he and other Venezuelans were put on the airplanes that landed in El Salvador . Still, she said she does not regret supporting her husband's decision to migrate. 'It's the country's situation that forces one to make these decisions,' she said. 'If (economic) conditions here were favorable..., it wouldn't have been necessary for him to leave to be able to fix the house or to provide my daughter with a better education.'
