'My son is not a criminal.' Venezuelan mothers grieve for US deportees in Salvadoran prison

Record ID: 1985481

  • Title: 'My son is not a criminal.' Venezuelan mothers grieve for US deportees in Salvadoran prison
  • Date: 25th March 2025
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MOTHER OF VENEZUELAN MIGRANT JESUS GABRIEL ROOS ORTEGA HELD IN EL SALVADOR, GABRIELA ORTEGA, SAYING: “This is an enormous pain. We don’t sleep, we don’t rest. We don’t even eat because we can’t even swallow water. We can’t swallow water! As a mother I don’t rest! I think about how my son is doing, the food they are feeding him, because not even the wo
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Bukele El Salvador Venezuela detainees migrants migration prison
  • Location: CARACAS, VENEZUELA
  • City: CARACAS, VENEZUELA
  • Country: Venezuela
  • Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,South America / Central America,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA007139224032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The mother of a Venezuelan migrant deported from the U.S. and who is being held in a high-security prison in El Salvador made a plea on Monday (March 24) for the release of her detained son, saying he is not a criminal, nor does he have ties to a Venezuelan gang.
    Mirna Gualdron as well as dozens of Venezuelan families have called on El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele to send their loved ones home.
    U.S. President Donald Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, which he said allowed him to deport alleged members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. The migrants are being held in El Salvador under an agreement with President Nayib Bukele's government.
    Family members of many of the deported Venezuelan migrants deny the alleged gang ties.
    From her home in Caracas, Mirna, mother of 22-year-old Venezuelan migrant Luis Jeanpier Gualdron, showed Reuters photos of her son, saying her son made a mistake by emigrating to the United States, where he had been living for a year and a half with his wife and son.
    Luis Jeanpier made a harrowing journey that included passing through the dangerous Darien jungle to reach the United States, where he was accused of belonging to the Tren de Aragua criminal gang, his mother told Reuters.
    "My son is not part of any gang, my son is a soldier of Christ. My son is not a criminal," said Mirna from her living room. "Only God knows how this hurts," she added as she fought back tears.
    (Production: Anthony Ramirez, Efrain Otero, Gloria Lopez, Nina Lopez)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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