Relatives of several migrants killed in the double earthquake that struck Venezuela on June 24 are demanding an apology and explanations from the government of Nicolás Maduro. A total of 146 people, including seven children, who had been deported from the United States just hours earlier, were being held by intelligence services in an old building in La Guaira when it collapsed. The exact number of victims and survivors among this group has still not been released.
According to the families, the migrants were deprived of their phones and personal belongings after arriving in Venezuela. Oswadelis Nuñez, whose son Daniel Alejandro Nuñez Ramirez died at the age of 28, claims that those present were not allowed to leave the building despite the two earthquakes measuring 7,2 and 7,5 on the Richter scale. She also denounces the lack of an evacuation plan, but these accusations have not been confirmed by the authorities.
Complaints announced in Venezuela and abroad
The victims' families are now considering legal action in Venezuelan courts and before international bodies. They are demanding recognition of state responsibility and compensation for their suffering. Several families are also questioning why their loved ones were detained, particularly since, according to them, these individuals had no criminal record in the United States or Venezuela.
The testimonies also point to a lack of information provided after the disaster. Oswadelis Nuñez claims to have searched for his son for five days in several hospitals before finding his body in a makeshift morgue. Two months after the earthquake, the Venezuelan government reports 6,509 deaths nationwide, but has not yet provided details on the toll for migrants deported from the United States and held in the La Guaira detention center.
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