Venezuela for the Integrity of Families

By: Roberto Morejón

The Venezuelan government has assumed as a matter of state and dignity the efforts to rescue a girl, daughter of migrant parents, detained in the United States amid the wave of deportations dictated by the administration of Donald Trump.

Venezuelan authorities are exposing the detention of two-year-old Maikelis Espinoza Bernal as a case of human trafficking.

She was separated from her mother at a U.S. airport before the mother was repatriated to the South American country.

The family fell victim of tragedy. The child's father was also kidnapped and transferred to a high-security prison in El Salvador without trial or any other form of justice.

Venezuelan society is deeply shocked by what has happened to this family, a target of xenophobia caused by the immigration policies of the current tenants of the White House.

The girl's parents deny belonging to the Tren de Aragua organized crime cartel, as alleged by U.S. authorities, and claim that there is no evidence against them.

Venezuela has condemned the United States for not repatriating the children, including Maikelys, and points out that these events constitute a violation of human rights.

For many Venezuelans, this type of action, which provokes the separation of families, is part of the harassment and sanctions of the northern power that have caused so much damage to the economy and society.

On the other hand, the extreme right wing of the Venezuelan opposition has been complicit in the separation of children, after encouraging emigration and blaming the government.

Faced with this unfavorable situation, plagued by the devastating fruits of Trump's deportation policy, including the kidnapping of a minor, the Venezuelan government promised to fight for the return of its nationals.

Venezuelan society is understandably alarmed by the inhumane treatment of migrants, including the separation of children.

The racist and xenophobic character of the massive deportations of illegal migrants carried out by Trump in his second term is manifest.

As the Anti-Fascist International asked: Where is the best interest of the child when the state uses migrant children as spoils of war?