The children returned to Venezuela after being forcibly separated from their migrant parents by US authorities.
Caracas, July 19 (RHC)-- The President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, received this Friday at the Miraflores Palace the seven children who returned to the country, along with 251 other Venezuelans, after being rescued from kidnapping by the United States government.
The children arrived on a plane from Texas, USA, as part of the Great Return Mission (Plan Vuelta a la Patria). The children's families were present at the emotional meeting, as well as Venezuelan authorities who supported the fight for the children's return from the very beginning.
The rescued children are: Mía Rodríguez (4 years old), Gloriannys Molina (1 year and 4 months old), Ethan Padilla Moyetones (2 years old), Marelbis Parra (9 years old), and siblings Miran Alejandro Salas Torres (4 years old) and Kendra Salas Torres (12 years old).
They were received at Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía by the first combatant, Cilia Flores, the Vice President of the Policy, Citizen Security, and Peace Sector, Diosdado Cabello Rondón, and other Venezuelan authorities.
With the deportation of thousands of Venezuelans by the U.S. government, many mothers reported that they were forcibly separated from their children by U.S. authorities, who took them to foster homes, where they lived with unknown families, exposed to vulnerable situations.
Last May, the Venezuelan government successfully rescued Maikelys Espinoza, a minor who was forcibly separated from her mother on May 14, 2024. Maikelys's case was reported by her mother after she was deported to Venezuela, and the country's authorities began a struggle to rescue the minor.
In this regard, the Venezuelan people mobilized in support of the president and the country's authorities, to demand the return of Maikelys and the other Venezuelan children separated from their families in the U.S..
The highest authority in the Venezuelan government stated at the time that "Maykelis is one of thousands of children of Latin Americans who are kidnapped in the United States. It is a very serious case, and we are taking action. Human rights defenders are taking action before the U.S. courts. I hope the courts will issue a measure to return this kidnapped child to her mother's arms."
Following Maikelys's arrival, Venezuela continued fighting for the return of the children kidnapped in the U.S. and the 252 Venezuelans who, as of Friday, had been unjustly held in the Cecot (National Center for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women) in El Salvador. In this regard, the president emphasized that "sooner rather than later, we will rescue all the Venezuelans kidnapped in El Salvador safe and sound and reunite the entire family, with God's favor."
At the end of June, the Bolivarian nation denounced the kidnapping of the children before international public opinion and demanded that the U.S. return them. The president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, compared the practice of separating families to what Nazi Germany did during World War II and emphasized that "there is no difference between a girl taken from her mother in Nazi concentration camps and the kidnapping of these Venezuelan children."
Likewise, Venezuela denounced the silence of international organizations such as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, specifically regarding Volker Türk, who was declared persona non grata by the Venezuelan Parliament.
On July 15, President Nicolás Maduro requested Pope Leo XIV's support in facilitating the return of the children kidnapped in the United States, for which a letter was delivered to the representative of the Catholic nuncio in the country.
According to the president, after the letter was delivered, gestures were observed on the part of the Catholic Church in support of the situation of the kidnapped children, as well as the 252 Venezuelans who remained in the Cecot prison in El Salvador.
[ SOURCE: teleSUR ]
