Mirelys Casique’s line went quiet earlier than the sound of stifled tears stuffed the speaker.
“We are the faces of the victims, of this pain,” she instructed Each day Kos from her short-term residing quarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
Casique, together with 4 different Venezuelan dad and mom and the spouse of a deported man, is presently in search of justice for her detained son. This was the one reprieve she had between limitless days of knocking on doorways and attending conferences at what Casique described because the United Nations’ “palace.”
Francisco Garcia Casique was kidnapped by ICE in the midst of the night time and has been held in CECOT ever since.
“I don’t have the finest clothes, and I’m not very well-spoken. I don’t have a great profession, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have rights,” she instructed Each day Kos. “However, there have been many people here who have shown empathy, who have taken the time to investigate our children. They will do everything they can, but honestly, we haven’t received what we hoped for.”
Practically two weeks prior, Casique and the opposite dad and mom flew to Geneva in hope of getting the United Nations to intervene in President Donald Trump’s detainment of greater than 250 Venezuelan males in El Salvador’s notoriously violent jail, CECOT.
“Of course, we are secondary victims, but we are victims because we are mothers, fathers, families that have been devastated. And, oh my God, how hard it has been to defend the innocent,” she instructed Each day Kos.
Casique is engaged on behalf of her 24-year-old son, Francisco Garcia Casique, who—whereas working as a barber in Texas as he attended necessary immigration court docket hearings—was violently kidnapped by ICE in the midst of the night time and later shackled and flown to CECOT.
Francisco, like most of the different detainees, has to this point solely been accused of being a Tren de Aragua gang member due to his tattoos. And whereas U.S. judges and the Supreme Courtroom have tried to intervene, males like Francisco nonetheless sit behind bars and not using a likelihood to show their innocence.
Now Casique joins Karlyn Fuentes, Jetzy Arteaga, Angel Blanco, and Yosleidy Chaco in Geneva, although the dearth of communication has made it troublesome to know whether or not their sons—Francisco, Joen Suarez, and Carlos Alejandro Cañizales—are alive.
Karlyn Fuentes’ son, Joen Suarez
“I still couldn’t even say for sure that my son is there,” Fuentes, the mom of 23-year-old Suarez, instructed Each day Kos.
Quickly after discovering their sons’ names on the deportation flight record, these dad and mom shaped what they now name Committee for the Protection of the 252 Venezuelans Kidnapped in El Salvador. As of late June, greater than 100 dad and mom have joined the committee.
“We are a family of struggle—sisters in struggle—and we are always there for one another,” Artaega, the mom of Cañizales, stated. “When one is in depression, the other is there. When one is calm, the other is crying. You don’t sleep. You don’t eat.”
The one one that can formally condemn human rights violations on the worldwide stage is the U.N. Excessive Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
Whereas Türk has known as for the US to hold out due course of, the Venezuelan dad and mom of those that have been detained current a novel problem: Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has a file of utmost human rights violations of his personal.
Prior to now yr, Maduro has been beneath hearth for blatantly stealing an election from his challenger and imprisoning the opposition. The now third-time elected president additionally imprisoned a bunch of economists who reported information on the nation’s declining economic system.
On the skin, it might not appear honest to solid blame on these dad and mom for the actions of their authorities. However as professor and Latin American political affairs knowledgeable David Smilde instructed Each day Kos, that’s sadly the best way that it’s.
Karlyn Fuentes holds up a picture of her son, Joen Suarez.
“Nobody wants to listen to Maduro. [The U.N.] is really limited in what it can actually do with this because they’re such a stigmatized government,” Smilde stated.
This can be why, when talking with Each day Kos, the dad and mom distanced themselves from their authorities, focusing as an alternative on the heartwrenching tales of their kidnapped youngsters.
The dad and mom instructed Each day Kos that their journey to Geneva was funded by non-governmental organizations, however a supply who requested to stay nameless attributable to their proximity to the case stated that funding got here, in some capability, from Maduro’s pocket—doubtlessly making their affiliation with the Venezuelan authorities laborious to disregard.
However Casique instructed Each day Kos that she’s not there to atone for the actions of her authorities.
“What fault do we have for the political and diplomatic problems happening?” she requested. “How long will we have to keep suffering?”
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Whereas the destiny of their sons stays to be seen, these dad and mom vow to proceed holding one another up—for the sake of their youngsters.
“One day you spend the entire day crying, praying to God. And the next day you tell yourself, ‘I have to get up,’” Fuentes instructed Each day Kos. “Because if I stay trapped in bed, there is no one to raise their voice for my son.”
Freelance journalist Juan Diego Ramirez contributed to this reporting.
Editor’s be aware: This story has been up to date to incorporate extra names of members of the family.
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