Venezuelan deportees say they endured months of abuse inside Salvadoran prison

Venezuelan deportees say they endured months of abuse inside a Salvadoran prison was first published by The Texas Tribune a nonprofit nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans and engages with them about residents initiative politics regime and statewide issues This article is co-published with ProPublica a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power Sign up for ProPublica s Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox as soon as they are published Also sign up for The Brief our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the preponderance essential Texas news This story is also co-published with Alianza Rebelde Investiga and Cazadores de Fake News Now that he s free Leonardo Jos Colmenares Sol rzano a -year-old Venezuelan wants the world to know that he was tortured over four months in a Salvadoran prison He commented guards stomped on his hands poured filthy water into his ears and threatened to beat him if he didn t kneel alongside other inmates and lick their backs Now that he s free Juan Jos Ramos Ramos insists he s not who President Donald Trump says he is He s not a member of a gang or an international terrorist just a man with tattoos whom immigration agents spotted riding in a car with a Venezuela sticker on the back Now that he s free Andry Omar Blanco Bonilla mentioned he wondered every day of his time in prison whether he d ever hold his mother in his arms again He s relieved to be back home in Venezuela but struggles to make sense of why he and the other men were put through that ordeal in the first place We are a group of people who I consider had the bad luck of ending up on this black list he announced These are the accounts being shared by certain of the more than Venezuelan men the Trump administration deported on March to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador known as CECOT Throughout the men s incarceration the administration used blanket statements and exaggerations that obscured the truth about who they are and why they were targeted The president has both hailed the men s removal as a signature achievement of his first days in office and touted it as a demonstration of the lengths his administration was willing to go to carry out his mass deportation campaign He assured the citizens that he was fulfilling his promise to rid the country of immigrants who d committed violent crimes and that the men sent to El Salvador were monsters savages and the worst of the worst Minimal cases have gotten as much attention as the Venezuelans sent to CECOT They were deported against the instructions of a federal judge frog-marched off American planes and forced to kneel before cameras and have their heads shaved The administration rebuffed requests to confirm the men s names or provide information about the statements it had made against them Meanwhile the deportees were held without access to lawyers or the ability to speak to their families Then days ago they were returned to Venezuela in a prisoner swap Now that they re home they ve begun to talk We interviewed nine men for this story They are bewildered frightened angry Chosen stated their feelings about what happened were still so raw they had trouble finding words to describe them All of the men stated they were abused physically and mentally during their imprisonment Their relatives say they too went through hell wondering whether their loved ones were alive or dead or if they would ever see them again All the men reported they were relieved to be free though particular stated their release was proof the U S had no reason to send them to prison to begin with Having trouble viewing Watch this video on texastribune org Blanco for example has no criminal record in the U S according to the executive s own records His only violation was having entered the country illegally He d come because he wasn t earning enough to help his parents and assistance his seven children ages to after his family s wholesale dairy and deli supply business failed He arrived in December and turned himself in to immigration government in Eagle Pass Texas to request asylum Then he was circulated to continue his immigration process Afterward Blanco moved to Dallas and determined work delivering food In February he accompanied his cousin to a routine appointment with Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities While he was there he decided to notify the agency that he d changed his address On his way out of the building an immigration agent stopped him and inquired about his tattoos He has several of them including a blue rose a father hugging his son behind railroad tracks and a clock showing the time his mother was born He mentioned the tattoos signified his affection for his family not evidence of affiliation with a gang Records show the agents didn t believe him and detained him While in custody a judge ordered his deportation However because Washington and Caracas don t have diplomatic relations the Venezuelan leadership was refusing to accept greater part deportees from the United States at the time Immigration representatives circulated Blanco back into the U S until they could send him home For the next seven months Blanco continued on in Dallas and picked up additional work as a mechanic Then shortly after Trump was inaugurated ICE officers appealed Blanco to come in for another appointment and detained him A month later despite Venezuela agreeing to take back certain deportees Blanco was on one of three planes bound for El Salvador From the moment I realized I was in El Salvador and that I would be detained it was anguish he disclosed I was shaken It hit me hard Hard hard hard Related No place for movers Advocates fear expelled Venezuelans already being tortured in El Salvador To deport the Venezuelans Trump invoked an obscure law from the s known as the Alien Enemies Act He declared that the men were all part of a Venezuelan prison gang called Tren de Aragua that was invading the United States Within days CBS News published a list of the men s names and there were anecdotal reports indicating that not all of the deportees were hardened criminals much less savages By early April several news organizations had informed that the majority of the men did not appear to have criminal records Administration representatives dismissed the reports saying that plenty of of the deportees were known human rights abusers gang members and criminals outside of the U S The fact they hadn t committed crimes in the United States they stated didn t mean they weren t a threat to society safety To examine those insists ProPublica The Texas Tribune and a band of Venezuelan journalists from Alianza Rebelde Investiga Rebel Alliance Investigates and Cazadores de Fake News Fake News Hunters launched an exhaustive examination of the backgrounds of the men on the list of detainees first published by CBS Last week we published a first-of-its-kind database that highlights our findings including the fact the Trump administration knew at least of the men had no criminal convictions in the U S Nearly half the men had open immigration cases when they were deported and at least have tattoos which experts have explained us are not an indicator of gang membership When requested for comment for this story Abigail Jackson a White House spokesperson called ProPublica a liberal rag hellbent on defending violent criminal illegal aliens who never belonged in the United States She added America is safer with them out of our country A Department of Homeland Precaution spokesperson echoed the White House s claim Once again the media is falling all over themselves to defend criminal illegal gang members the spokesperson commented in a comment We hear far too much about gang members and criminals false sob stories and not enough about their casualties The fact that limit encounters have plummeted to record lows after reaching record highs during the Biden presidency suggests that the administration s efforts are having the effect that Trump intended After what happened to him Colmenares explained he didn t think migrating to the U S was safe anymore He d been a youth soccer coach in Venezuela before setting off for the U S He followed the rules and got an appointment to approach the U S -Mexico boundary last October as had more than of the men At the appointment Colmenares stated an agent pulled him aside to take pictures of his various tattoos then detained him He never set foot in the U S as a free man The country with the Statue of Liberty deprived us of our liberty without any kind of evidence he noted in an interview two days after he was returned to his family Who is going to go to the dividing line now knowing that they will grab you and put you in a prison where they will kill you The men we interviewed explained the terror they felt in El Salvador began almost right away upon arrival Salvadoran police boarded the planes and began forcing the shackled men off shoving them throwing them to the ground hitting them with their batons Five declared they saw flight attendants crying at the sight This will teach you not to enter our country illegally Colmenares explained one ICE official narrated him in Spanish He desired to explain that wasn t true in his affair but could tell there was no point He got off the plane and was loaded onto a bus to prison Once inside guards stripped them down to white boxers and sandals Those who tried to refuse to have their heads shaved were beaten Blanco announced he heard their screams and didn t dare resist Humiliated and enraged he did as he was notified head down body limp They were loaded up again on the buses and taken to another part of the compound Blanco reported the shackles were so tight that he couldn t walk as fast as the guards requested so they beat him until he passed out and dragged him the rest of the way Inside they dropped him so hard that his head banged on the floor As he opened his eyes and saw the guards bright lights and polished concrete floor he required God why am I here Why The men announced beatings by the guards were random severe and constant Guards lashed out at them with their fists and batons They kicked them while wearing heavy work boots and shot them at close range with rubber pellets One man we spoke to declared he individuals he will have a lasting injury from a hard kick to the groin Colmenares recalled seeing one man defecate all over himself after a particularly severe beating Guards laughed at him and left him there for a day saying that the Venezuelans weren t real men Just as vicious the men mentioned was the psychological abuse They lost track of the days because they were never allowed outdoors Blanco commented that whenever he solicited a guard for the time they d mock him Why do you want to know what time it is Have somewhere to be Is someone waiting for you Over and over the men announced the guards called them criminals and terrorists and sons of bitches who deserved to be locked up They declared the guards reported them so often that they were nobodies and that no one not even their families cared about them that specific started to believe it The men explained they waged at least two dayslong hunger strikes skipping the beans rice and tortillas they were fed majority of days to demand an end to the abuses and an explanation for why they were in prison They advised us nothing about how the process was going what was going to happen to us when we were going to see a judge when we were going to see an attorney Ramos noted Several of those interviewed explained suicide crossed their minds Ramos commented he thought I d rather die or kill myself than to keep living through this experience Being woken up every day at a m to be insulted and beaten For wanting to shower for asking for something so basic Hearing your brothers getting beaten crying for help Four talked about a man who started cutting himself and writing messages on the walls and sheets with his blood Stop hitting us We are fathers We are brothers We are innocent people Selected of them became friends They made playing cards out of juice boxes and soaked tortillas in water and shaped the cornmeal into dice They talked about their families and wondered if anyone knew where they were They prayed About three and a half months into their detention the men revealed they noticed a change in the guards and in the conditions in the facility They were beaten less frequently and less severely They were given ibuprofen antibiotics and toothbrushes They were recounted to shave and shower And a psychologist came in to evaluate them Then sometime after midnight on July guards began banging their batons on the bars of the men s cells Everyone take a shower they yelled This time when Blanco requested for the time a guard gave it to him It was a m Photographers and reporters were allowed into the facility Blanco wondered whether he was about to be a part of a publicity stunt He reported himself he wouldn t give them what they yearned No smiles for the camera Then a top Salvadoran official walked in You are leaving In a brief phone interview F lix Ulloa El Salvador s vice president denied any mistreatment and pointed to videos of the men looking unscathed as they left the prison as proof they were in good shape He declined to comment on what role if any the U S had played in what happened to the men while they were in El Salvador However according to court records the Salvadoran cabinet previously recounted the United Nations that while it was physically holding the men they remained under U S jurisdiction The Trump administration pledged millions of dollars to El Salvador to hold the deportees in CECOT Natalia Molano a spokesperson for the U S State Department announced the U S is not responsible for the conditions of the men s detention in El Salvador If there are complaints now that the men have returned to Venezuela she revealed the United States is not involved in the conversation During his months in CECOT Ramos commented he uncovered solace in the Bible the only book available He explained he felt particularly drawn to the Book of Job a wealthy man whom God tested with loss and pain Despite his losses Ramos announced Job never denied God He declared Job had a lot of faith That s how Ramos a former telephone technician saw his time in El Salvador a divine test that he d overcome with faith The seven long months it had taken him to migrate from Venezuela to the United States which involved walking through the treacherous Dari n jungle seemed easy by comparison As soon as his family and neighbors got word that he was on his way home to Guatire just outside Caracas they cobbled together to help his mother Lina Ramos decorate the house and make a meal of chicken and rice with plantains Knowing that his mother had marched and fought for his release that no one had forgotten him and the other men who d been detained with him he commented was the best gift we could have gotten But the effects of what he went through still linger Now when he tries to read the Bible he mentioned he notices his sight is failing in his left eye He thinks it was caused by a particular beating one of various where guards repeatedly hit him on his ears and head after he tried to bathe outside of the designated time He mentioned he has no money at the moment to see a professional He arrived home with nothing but the clothes he was wearing He is sure he ll work something out though He has faith Photo editing by Cengiz Yar This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https www texastribune org venezuelan-men-cecot-trump-salvadoran-prison-abuse The Texas Tribune is a member-supported nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and procedures Learn more at texastribune org Read more about deportations Trump s mass deportations are hurting local economies Alligator Alcatraz 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