Tortured Young Man In Venezuela Detained In The United States

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

In Venezuela, the young Marco Coello survived torture at the hands of the Nicolás Maduro government, however it is not clear whether in the United States President Donald Trump's new immigration policy will survive because, despite having requested political asylum upon arrival in this country, on Wednesday he was detained by federal immigration authorities in Miami.

When reporting this fact to the newspaper El Nuevo Herald, his lawyer Elizabeth Blandón described his client as "a hero in Venezuela" who was arrested when he appeared for his interview at the Miami asylum office, where he was processing his immigration case. Upon arrival, he was detained before his hearing was held since, according to an officer, the young man had exceeded his stay with his tourist visa.

His lawyer affirmed that in all the time he has been practicing his career, he has never seen anything like it and explained that those who request asylum in the United States exceed the time granted by that visa to stay in the country because the immigration offices have a administrative delay of more than three years to air the cases presented. She also made it clear that Coello is not in the country illegally as she has applied for political asylum, a process with which she even received a work permit issued by the federal government.

The torture of the young man, who is being persecuted by a politician in the current Venezuelan government, has been verified by human rights organizations such as the UN, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, which have documented his case.

The media has also spread his story, calling it even a "symbol of torture in Venezuela." In an interview with CNN, he related how in 2014 he was arrested on the street by a group of "officials" who did not identify themselves or were not wearing uniforms, who beat him up with a fire extinguisher.

Commenting on the arrest of his son on Wednesday, his father Armando Coelho said that he had attended the appointment with immigration officials full of hope. "My son was looking for what he was never offered in Venezuela, he was excited for the interview, he shaved and put on his best clothes," he said.

The boy is now being held at the Krome Detention Center, southwest of Miami, while his lawyers present emergency motions for his release - aware that if he is deported to Venezuela his life is in danger.