Overview
- A group of 146 Venezuelans deported from the United States were detained in La Guaira hours before the June 24 earthquakes struck the coastal region.
- Relatives say returnees were stripped of phones and belongings, held in an old building run by intelligence agents, and were blocked from leaving when the quakes hit.
- Family members searched hospitals and improvised morgues for days and say some detainees died; the interim government has reported about 6,500 quake deaths but has not disclosed how many people remain missing.
- Authorities say they have provided 335 homes to quake victims and pledged 4,000 by year-end, but they have not publicly answered families’ specific claims about detention and evacuation failures.
- Bereaved relatives are demanding apologies, moral compensation and accountability and plan to file legal complaints that could prompt domestic and international scrutiny of deportation and detention procedures.