Kin of deported Venezuelans who died in quakes demand apology

Relatives of Venezuelan deportees from the United States who died in the earthquakes that struck their country on June 24 have demanded an apology from Venezuela's interim government. Speaking on Monday, the families said the 146 deported people were detained in La Guaira state hours before the twin tremors decimated the coastal region.

Oswadelis Nunez, the mother of deceased Daniel Alejandro Nunez Ramirez, said, "My son did not have a criminal record either in the United States or in Venezuela... What were they doing carrying out an unlawful arrest?" Her son would have turned 29 on August 26.

Upon their return to Venezuela, the deportees were stripped of their cell phones and belongings and placed in an old building controlled by intelligence agents, according to Nunez. "We know that the earthquake was a chance event, but why were they there without their belongings?" she asked.

When the quakes hit, she alleged authorities blocked the detainees from leaving the building and had not prepared an evacuation plan. "We want moral compensation, an apology, (to know) why they did that, why that happened to our children," the bereaved mother said, adding that affected families intended to file domestic and international complaints.

Nunez also called for better deportation protocols, criticizing the lack of information about how many people were returned to Venezuela, how many survived the quake, and how many died. According to an Instagram post by the government, the detained group was made up of 120 men, 19 women and seven children.

"I will love you forever, my little boy," read a sign held by Nunez, who said she found her son's body in an improvised morgue after a five-day search in hospitals across La Guaira and Caracas.

Luz Maris Melendez, whose detained son Angelo David Mejia Melendez also died, said, "The government failed in its duty of care. They must be held accountable."

The earthquakes and response

June's magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 quakes devastated the coastal state of La Guaira, where at least 190 buildings collapsed, according to authorities. Venezuela's interim government has reported 6,509 deaths from the quakes so far and has not disclosed how many people remain missing.

The government has pledged to provide 4,000 homes to quake victims by the end of the year, and authorities say they have provided 335 so far.

Perspectives

The families' account portrays the government's actions before the quakes as the cause of the deaths. They claim the deportees were detained without belongings and blocked from escaping, and thus the government failed its duty of care.

The interim government's social media post confirms the group size but does not address the lawsuit or deaths. The government's response data on deaths and housing pledge suggests an official focus on disaster recovery rather than on allegations.