Latest news with #TrenDeAragua
Reuters
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Reuters
'I'm free now': Venezuelans held in El Salvador reunite with families
CARACAS/VALENCIA/CAPACHO, July 22 (Reuters) - A singer and a barber were among the former Venezuelan migrants who returned to their families on Tuesday, after spending months detained in a notorious prison in El Salvador before being sent back to Venezuela last week. Singer Arturo Suarez was greeted with hugs and tears in working-class El Valle, south of capital Caracas, by his sister, aunt and cousins. He later wiped away tears as he spoke to his wife and daughter, who live in Chile, via video call. "I'm free now, thank God, at last," said Suarez, who was arrested in February in North Carolina while filming a music video. He serenaded a crowd gathered in his family's living room. "I still can't believe it." The Venezuelans were sent to El Salvador from the United States in March, after U.S. President Donald Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang without normal immigration procedures. The deportations drew fierce criticism from human rights groups and a legal battle with the Trump administration. Families and lawyers of many of the men have denied they have gang ties. His wife has said Suarez had gone to the U.S. to boost his emerging music career and that he denied being a member of Tren de Aragua. "I thought of my daughter, I thought of my wife, of my siblings, of my family, I asked for strength to not give up, to not allow myself to die," Suarez told journalists about his detention. "I didn't - because I'm tough, I'm a Venezuelan." Suarez and the other detainees deported to El Salvador from the U.S. were returned to Venezuela on Friday in a prisoner exchange. Since arriving, they have been undergoing medical checks and interviews with officials. Two brothers - Darwin Hernandez, a 30-year-old barber, and 23-year-old house painter Yeison Hernandez - were arrested alongside Suarez in February. They arrived home to their parents and other family members in central Valencia on Tuesday. "I asked God only for freedom, but more than anything that my family also be alive, to be able to leave and be with them like we are now," said Darwin Hernandez, a husband and a father to a six-year-old daughter. Suarez and Hernandez both said guards at the CECOT prison told detainees they would only leave dead, and Suarez said some detainees considered suicide. Their comments tallied with other allegations of abuse made by former prisoners in videos broadcast on state television, including during a program with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday night. Venezuela's attorney general said on Monday his office will investigate El Salvador President Nayib Bukele and other top officials over the alleged abuse. Bukele's office did not respond to requests for comment on the alleged torture, but he said on social media late on Monday that the Maduro government was "indignant" because they realized they no longer held "hostages from the most powerful country in the world," - a reference to ten Americans formerly held in Venezuela who were freed under the deal. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, State Department and White House did not immediately respond to comment requests. Reuters was not able to immediately confirm the abuse allegations. Eighty Venezuelan prisoners - including opposition politicians - held within Venezuela are also supposed to be released in the swap. Judicial NGO Foro Penal said on Monday it had verified 48 releases. The Venezuelan opposition has regularly critiqued the Maduro government for holding activists and others in abusive conditions within Venezuela. Andry Hernandez, a gay make-up artist who was detained at the U.S.-Mexico border during the Biden administration, had an active asylum case when he was deported to CECOT. The U.S. alleged gang membership based on his tattoos. His parents were anxiously awaiting him in Capacho, near the Colombian border, on Tuesday. "All this time I've slept badly. My wife would serve me a plate of food and I would wonder 'is he eating?'" said Hernandez's father Felipe. Hernandez, who said he suffered sexual abuse at CECOT in a video broadcast on state television on Monday, was able to call his parents to say he was on his way. His mother, Alexi Romero, says she told him she is waiting with open arms.
The Independent
15 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
They were freed from a ‘torture prison' in El Salvador. This is their life now
Dozens of Venezuelan men, locked up in immigration detention centers in the United States, were abruptly flown to El Salvador in the middle of the night, shackled and gang walked to a brutal maximum-security prison, heads shaved, and stuffed into jail cells where they lived for more than five months. They weren't allowed to speak with families or lawyers. They never stepped foot outside. On July 18, President Donald Trump's administration announced 252 Venezuelans were freed from El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center and returned to Venezuela, a country many of those men fled to make the treacherous journey to the U.S.-Mexico border. Now, as they reveal traumatizing ordeals and adjust to the whiplash of landing back in a country where many still face significant threats, they are also preparing for the prospect of returning to the U.S. In a remarkable change in the government's position, Trump officials have 'obtained assurances' from Venezuela that these men will be returned to the U.S. to continue their immigration proceedings — marking a chaotic full circle that could land them right back in the American detention centers from where they were deported. Last week's prisoner exchange appeared to mark the end of a months-long legal battle, challenging the president's use of the Alien Enemies Act to summarily deport dozens of alleged members of Venezuela's notorious Tren de Aragua gang. Trump officials had labelled these men 'worst of the worst' criminals, and 'alien enemies', who committed 'warfare' on U.S. soil. Yet the swap has set them free in Venezuela, where President Nicolas Maduro's regime is threatening to expose conditions inside El Salvador's notorious jail. And the Trump administration could be forced to return many of those men back to the U.S., with Venezuela's help. The Department of Justice declined to comment. The administration is still seeking to use the Alien Enemies Act as a tool to rapidly deport immigrants as part of the president's anti-immigration agenda. It will likely be up to the U.S. Supreme Court to decide if Trump can, or if the dozens of Venezuelan deportees will get their day in court. On Monday, Venezuela's attorney general's office said it has opened an investigation into Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele for alleged mistreatment and human rights violations against Venezuelans detained in his prison. Video produced by the Venezuelan government includes testimony of men claiming they were shot with pellet guns, beaten, deprived of food, and under constant threat of violence inside CECOT. In his proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act in March, Trump stated that 'all Venezuelan citizens 14 years of age or older who are members of [Tren de Aragua], are within the United States, and are not actually naturalized or lawful permanent residents of the United States are liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as Alien Enemies.' But government officials later admitted that 'many' of those men did not have criminal records, and many were in the country with legal permission and scheduled to appear in court on their asylum claims. A top judge in Washington, D.C. had ordered the Trump administration to turn planes around on March 15 after learning in an emergency lawsuit that officials were flying men to El Salvador. The administration resisted, provoking an extraordinary legal battle in which Trump himself demanded the judge's impeachment. Now, after releasing those men back to Venezuela, administration officials have told federal courts handling Alien Enemies Act cases that they are prepared to return them. Last month, District Judge James Boasberg compared their ordeal to a Kafka-esque nightmare. 'Significant evidence has come to light indicating that many of those currently entombed in CECOT have no connection to the gang and thus languish in a foreign prison on flimsy, even frivolous, accusations,' Boasberg wrote. Among them was Andry Hernandez Romero, a gay makeup artist who sought asylum in the U.S. before he was arrested, placed in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, and accused of being a member of Tren de Aragua. He fled Venezuela for California in 2024, fearing persecution under Maduro's regime. He has no criminal history or gang ties, according to his family and attorneys. Romero lawfully entered California with an appointment through the CBP One app - a Joe Biden-era program that allowed immigrants to make immigration appointments before reaching the U.S. - but was swiftly transferred to ICE custody, where officials labeled him a security risk because of his tattoos. A photojournalist captured some of the first images of deportees inside CECOT and witnessed a man identified as Romero crying out for help. In the months that followed, immigrant advocacy groups feared the worst. He is now in Venezuela. 'We have been fighting to free Andry, our other clients, and all the men from CECOT for more than four months,' according to Lindsay Toczylowski, president of Immigrant Defenders Law Center, which provided legal representation to his family. 'We are incredibly relieved that it appears most of them have been freed from the torture prison the U.S. government sent them to, and potentially may be reunited with family soon,' she said. 'But as an American, and as a lawyer who believes deeply in the rule of law and due process, my heart remains heavy.' Jerce Reyes Barrios, described by his attorneys as a professional soccer player and a youth soccer coach, fled Venezuela for the U.S. after he was arrested and 'tortured' by 'electric shocks and suffocation' for marching in demonstrations protesting Maduro, according to court documents. He registered with the CBP One app in Mexico for an appointment with an immigration officer last year, but was taken into ICE custody in San Diego, where he was accused of being a member of Tren de Aragua, largely based on his tattoos — which include a crown on a soccer ball, a tribute to his favorite club Real Madrid, according to a sworn statement from his attorney. Barrios is also expected to be among Venezuelans freed from CECOT. Neri Alvarado was told by ICE officers that he was arrested in February for his tattoos — one of which is a rainbow-colored autism awareness ribbon with the name of his brother, who is autistic. His relatives watched him walk off a plane in Venezuela after his release from CECOT. Emotional video shows Ysqueibel Yonaiquer Penaloza Chirinos, another Venezuelan immigrant who entered the United States legally with the CBP One app, returning to his family after his release. 'We spent four months without any contact with the outside world,' Arturo Suarez told Venezuelan broadcaster teleSUR following his release. 'We were kidnapped … We got a beating for breakfast. We got a beating for lunch. We got a beating for dinner.' Court hearings in the coming weeks are expected to revisit those legal challenges now that the men are no longer in CECOT. In another Alien Enemies Act case, the Trump administration says it has 'obtained assurances' from Maduro's government that it will cooperate with court orders for Venezuelan citizens to return to the United States, if required. 'The Maduro regime will not impose obstacles to the individual's travel,' Harper said in a sworn statement to Maryland District Judge Stephanie Gallagher on July 18. In that case, a wrongfully deported Venezuelan man identified in court documents as 'Cristian' will be returned to the United States to continue his immigration proceedings 'should he wish to return.' The statement is a remarkable change in the government's position. In April, Gallagher ordered the government to 'facilitate' his release from El Salvador. But when ordered to cough up a status report about his condition, government attorneys essentially only told the court 'we haven't done anything and don't intend to,' Gallagher wrote in court documents. What happens next in potentially dozens of cases depends on dozens of individual and overlapping decisions after months of chaos. Some Venezuelans will file individual lawsuits or seek relief through the current legal cases winding their way through the courts, while 'others may have no desire or pathway to return to the United States, yet may still seek to pursue litigation to hold the Trump administration accountable for what they did,' according to American Immigration Council senior fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick. Others may fear reprisals from Maduro's regime. 'While the ultimate outcome of these cases is unknown, at least the men are free for now,' according to Reichlin-Melnick. 'As their stories of what happened in El Salvador become public, pressure will hopefully build for international accountability.'
Reuters
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Reuters
'I'm free now,' says Venezuelan singer held in El Salvador
CARACAS, July 22 (Reuters) - A Venezuelan singer who spent months in a notorious prison in El Salvador returned to his family in Caracas overnight, one of the first of more than 250 former prisoners to arrive home after they were sent back to Venezuela last week. Arturo Suarez was greeted with hugs and tears in working-class El Valle, south of the capital, by his sister, aunt and cousins. He later wiped away tears as he spoke to his wife and daughter, who live in Chile, via video call. "I'm free now, thank God, at last," said Suarez, who was arrested in February in North Carolina while filming a music video. He serenaded a crowd gathered in his family's living room. "I still can't believe it." The Venezuelans were sent to El Salvador from the United States in March, after U.S. President Donald Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang without normal immigration procedures. The deportations drew fierce criticism from human rights groups and a legal battle with the Trump administration. Families and lawyers of many of the men have denied they have gang ties. His wife has said Suarez had gone to the U.S. to boost his emerging music career and that he denied being a member of Tren de Aragua. "I thought of my daughter, I thought of my wife, of my siblings, of my family, I asked for strength to not give up, to not allow myself to die," Suarez told journalists about his detention. "I didn't - because I'm tough, I'm a Venezuelan." Suarez and the other detainees deported to El Salvador from the U.S. were returned to Venezuela on Friday in a prisoner exchange. Since arriving they have been undergoing medical checks and interviews with officials. Suarez said the guards at the CECOT prison beat prisoners and told them they would only leave dead. Some detainees considered suicide, he added. His comments tallied with other allegations of abuse made by former prisoners in videos broadcast on state television, including during a program with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday night. Venezuela's attorney general said on Monday his office will investigate El Salvador President Nayib Bukele and other top officials over the alleged abuse. Bukele's office did not respond to requests for comment. Reuters was not able to immediately confirm the allegations. The Venezuelan opposition has regularly critiqued the Maduro government for holding activists and others in abusive conditions within Venezuela.
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Venezuela to probe El Salvador's Bukele for ‘torture' of US deportees
Venezuela has launched an investigation into the role El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele and his senior officials played in the alleged torture of 252 migrants who were detained in the Central American country after being deported from the United States. Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab made the announcement in Caracas on Monday, as he presented photos and testimonies of some of the men, who said they were beaten, sexually abused and fed rotten food while inside a notorious El Salvador prison. Others were denied medical care or treated without anaesthesia, Saab said, urging the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the UN Human Rights Council to act. The Venezuelans were sent to El Salvador from the US in March, after US President Donald Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang without due process. The deportations drew fierce criticism from human rights groups and a legal battle with the Trump administration. Family members and lawyers of many of the men deny they had gang ties. Prisoner swap The former detainees arrived near Caracas on Friday following their release in El Salvador, in exchange for 10 US citizens and political prisoners held in Venezuela. Saab said the prosecutor's office was interviewing the returned migrants. Some of the former detainees have since reunited with their families, but they have not yet returned to their own homes. Several had bruises on their bodies, marks of being shot with rubber bullets, and one had a split lip. Andry Hernandez Romero, a 32-year-old beautician among those sent to El Salvador, said he barely survived the ordeal. 'We were going through torture, physical aggressions, psychological aggressions,' he said in a video presented by Saab. 'I was sexually abused.' Others spoke of being held in 'inhuman cells', deprived of sunlight and ventilation, and given rotten food and unsafe drinking water while in the El Salvador prison. The men had no access to lawyers or their relatives, and the last time many of them were seen was when Bukele's government issued photos of them arriving at the prison shackled and with their heads shorn. Apart from Bukele, Venezuela will investigate El Salvador's Justice Minister Gustavo Villatoro and Head of Prisons Osiris Luna Meza, Saab said. Bukele's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the media. Late on Monday, Bukele posted about the return on social media but did not comment on the abuse allegations. 'The Maduro regime was satisfied with the swap deal; that's why they accepted it,' he said on X. 'Now they scream their outrage, not because they disagree with the deal but because they just realised they ran out of hostages from the most powerful country in the world.' President Nicolas Maduro, on his TV show on Monday, claimed Bukele had tried 'last minute' to prevent the migrants from leaving. 'You could not stop the first plane, but for the second plane he put some car on the runway … to provoke either an accident or prevent them from leaving,' he said. Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado labelled the process as an 'exchange of prisoners of war' during a television interview on Monday. Venezuela itself faces an investigation by the ICC in The Hague, with similar allegations of torturing prisoners and denying them access to legal representation of political prisoners.
Free Malaysia Today
a day ago
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
El Salvador sends home Venezuelan migrants in US prisoner deal
Clamping down on migrants is a flagship pursuit of the Trump administration, which has ramped up raids and deportations. (AFP pic) MAIQUETIA : El Salvador on Friday freed scores of Venezuelans deported from the US to a notorious maximum security prison, the outcome of a highly coordinated prisoner swap between Caracas and Washington. The administration of US President Donald Trump said the men were released in exchange for 10 Americans held in Venezuela, and an unknown number of 'political prisoners' in the South American country. The move appears to end a months-long detention of migrants that had been decried by rights groups and slammed by Trump's critics in the US. After prolonged uncertainty over the fate of more than 250 Venezuelans expelled from the US in March, two Caracas-bound Venezuelan planes took off from San Salvador on Friday to the immense joy and relief of loved ones back home. 'I can't contain my happiness,' Mercedes Yamarte, mother of Cecot inmate Mervin Yamarte, told AFP. 'I arranged the reception, what am I going to do? I'll make a soup.' Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said on X that 'today, we have handed over all the Venezuelan nationals detained in our country.' The US sent the group of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador in March to be locked up in its feared Cecot anti-'terrorism' jail, accused without evidence of belonging to the Tren de Aragua criminal gang. The Trump administration invoked rarely used wartime laws to fly the men to the Central American nation without any court hearings. Bukele claimed in his post that many of the men 'face multiple charges for murder, robbery, rape, and other serious crimes.' 'High price' US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X Friday that 'ten Americans who were detained in Venezuela are on their way to freedom' thanks to a deal that also included 'the release of Venezuelan political prisoners'. He thanked Bukele 'for helping secure an agreement for the release of all of our American detainees'. The US embassy in Caracas published a photo of the individuals with American flags. In the US, families were also excited to see their loved ones return. One had been imprisoned for nearly a year. Global Reach, an NGO that works for wrongly detained Americans, said one of the men freed was 37-year-old Lucas Hunter, held since he was 'kidnapped' by Venezuelan border guards while vacationing in Colombia in January. 'We cannot wait to see him in person and help him recover from the ordeal,' it quoted his younger sister Sophie Hunter as saying. Uruguay said one of its citizens, resident in the US, was among those liberated after nine months in Venezuelan detention. Nicolas Maduro's government in a statement said it had paid a 'high price' to secure the return of its compatriots. Apart from the freeing of the Americans, it said 'alternative measures' to imprisonment had been granted to Venezuelans detained for 'their involvement in common crimes and offenses against the constitutional order'. The prisoner rights NGO Foro Penal told AFP it was verifying the identities of the people concerned. 'Rescued' Another plane arrived at Maiquetia airport earlier Friday from Houston with 244 Venezuelans deported from the US and seven children who interior minister Diosdado Cabello said had been 'rescued from the kidnapping to which they were being subjected'. The children were among 30 who Caracas says remained in the US after their Venezuelan parents were expelled. Clamping down on migrants is a flagship pursuit of Trump's administration, which has ramped up raids and deportations. It has agreed with Maduro to send undocumented Venezuelans back home, and flights have been arriving near daily also from Mexico, where many got stuck trying to enter the US. Official figures show that since February, more than 8,200 people have been repatriated to Venezuela from the US and Mexico, including some 1,000 children. The Venezuelans detained in El Salvador had no right to phone calls or visits, and their relatives unsuccessfully requested proof of life. Bukele had Cecot built as part of his war on criminal gangs, but he agreed to receive millions of dollars from the US to house the Venezuelans there. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other rights groups have denounced the detentions as a violation of human rights.
