CNN
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Sitting on the sofa at his home in Malacay, Venezuela, Mirelis Casik Lopez looks at his son, Francisco Javier Garcia Casique on his mobile phone.
“In the boys, I recognized my son,” Kasik Lopez told CNN. “We thank God for making sure we can see relatives, even under those conditions,” she added, insisting that she will continue to pray for their release.
The video aired Tuesday on One America News Network on a show hosted by former Republican MP Matt Gaetz. He visited CECOT and gained access to the wings of a prison that houses a group of over 200 Venezuelans who were deported by President Donald Trump’s administration. Many were alleged without evidence that they were members of Venezuelan gangster Tren de Aragua, as they are controversial in alien enemy law.
The report shows the Venezuelan about a minute’s clip behind the bar, wearing a prisoner’s uniform in a white T-shirt and shorts. From the moment the TV cameras enter prison, detainees respond with a cry of “Freedom, freedom!” And “Venezuela!” Another group makes a fist with four fingers on their thumb, a universal gesture for help.
Yenni Luz Rincón Ramírez identified his brother Jonathan Miguel Ramírez in the video. “I was delighted to finally see him in 60 days,” she told CNN in Venezuela. She argued that her brother’s detention was unfair and that he was not a member of Tren de Aragua.
Rincón Ramírez is not the only person he has ever seen his loved one since the deportation was announced in March.
Blanca Martínez told CNN she learned that her partner, Miguel Angel Rojas, had been deported to El Salvador through a list published by the media outlet. She hadn’t heard from him since. So far, neither the US nor the Salvadoran government has published official lists under the names of those deported to CECOT.
“It was sad to see him without knowing how he really was,” Martinez said. Rojas is suffering from depression and adding that knowing he is in custody in Secott will cause her great distress.
American citizen Angie Rios told CNN in a telephone interview that she recognized her husband, Jessu Rios, in a video. “I looked at him and heard him,” she said. “He’s the most handsome of all,” she said lovingly about her partner. Rios added when she last saw her husband become March 15th. “He’s in survival mode,” Rios says when he sees Jesus, he is one of the detainees who screams “Free!”
“In that video it feels like he’s fighting so he can hear him.”
CNN was unable to confirm whether these individuals have a criminal history in the United States and has contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
Following the release of the video, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro again denounced what he considers to be an invitation to El Salvador by Venezuelan citizens.
“As we saw today, I vow to save the 253 Venezuelans who were lured in El Salvador in concentration camps,” he said Tuesday. “Let us demand that you be lured without trial and be released immediately without committing a crime, without the right to appear before the judge, without the right to defend.
CNN contacted President Salvador to comment on Maduro’s statement.
In April, Salvador President Naibe Buquere proposed to Maduro the exchange of those deported and detained to his country, as well as what he would be considered a “political prisoner” of the Venezuelan government. Maduro responded by requesting access to prisoners for his lawyers and his family.
In March, El Salvador agreed to detain up to 300 immigrants sent by the Trump administration at CECOT. According to an agreement between the two governments, El Salvador will receive around $6 million to keep them there.
Hernandez.
