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By handcuffing his hands and feet, tied to other prisoners from the leg, Jose Daniel Semicas Rodrig was thrown into the plane. They say they were told they would go to Miami.
Hours later, when he landed, Samanakas and his fellow passengers were shifted to the bus with windows covered by windows. Until then he was already suspected of where he had arrived: Guantanamo. What he did not even imagine was that it was just the beginning of a nightmare that would continue for 15 days.
Samanakas was one of the 177 Venezuela, which was deported by the United States, which was shifted to the US Navy base in Cuba, criticizing a move. Through human rights organizations who say that this base is not appropriate for housing immigrants.
He says he can confirm these complaints: at the place where he closed it, there was barely a sheet and a pillow, he did not give him almost no food and he was completely isolated. The only voice that was accompanied by him, which he describes as “hell”, was the screams of other prisoners. This experience was so unbearable that he even thought of suicide.
Although at some point he was told that he would be deported, Venezuela, 30, feared he would never see his five children again. They remember, “I had already fully abandoned.”
“Imprisonment, torture. You are not alive. You are there and you are not alive, where you do not know whether it’s day or night, you don’t really know the time, you are eating poor every day, every day when you are there, you are dying a little. I used to cry every day during these 15 days.
He says that in 15 days, he was allowed to take a bath only twice and to do so he took him to the bathroom with handcuffs, examined security and kept it under constant supervision. He said he felt that he was being treated like a terrorist.
He says he was hungry during his stay in Guantanamo, which he remembers most. In a day, three plates that do not remember him fondly, and in the parts they think they were very few. “He licked the plate” as if food was very tasty, but in fact he did this because he was very hungry.
Arriving to comment on the allegations, the US immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency told CNN that it could not comment on it because the legal action was pending. The court documents alleged that Samanakas illegally enrolled in the United States after being expelled for the first time. Semicas denied it.
After more than a month, the Trump administration has suspended the construction of tents at the base after announcing the refugees to Guantanamo and the establishment of places for about 30,000 exiles. According to a source of knowledge of the CNN in February, the reason for this stop was that the structures did not meet the standard of detention. Although tents are not being used, there are still migrants at the base detention center and the Refugee Operations Center.
Like many immigrants, Samanakas says he arrived in the United States illegally in May 2024 through a dangerous Darian jungle. Earlier, he lived in Ecuador, where he said he stayed until 2022. He then spent time in Panama, Costa Rica and Mexico while continuing the journey to the North. He says the purpose of this entire journey was to find a better life.
From a very young age, he says he has worked in construction, first as a laborer and then as a construction foreman in Venezuela, Ecuador and Costa Rica. His plan was to do the same on the American soil.
However, when he arrived in the United States, he was detained and spent eight days in a federal jail and then at the US immigration service detention center in the city of Al -Paso, Texas, where he remained awaiting deportation for nine months.
During an interview with immigration agents, he said he was born in the state of Aragwa. The details that they think maybe he has put a danger for US officials. Then they saw that he had tattoos, which he said he had been with him since the age of 16. Officials asked him questions to determine if he had anything to do with Venezuela’s criminal group Gang Train de Aragua, which is considered a terrorist group in the United States.
US officials have previously claimed that Venezuelan immigrants were sent to Guantanamo, who have a train with Train de Aragua.
“I was the only one he had put aside, just to say that I was for them … for them, I was already part of Train de Aragua,” said Simanas, “I was already for them.”
The Trump administration had announced that Guantanamo Bay has been allocated for the transfer of the “worst worst”, though several judicial files have revealed that all the people sent there have not been represented “high risk”.
Samanakas said that with a group of 15 people with whom he was detained was told that he would be shifted to Miami, but he ended at the Cuba base.
His stay in Guantanamo ended on February 20, when Venezuelan, who was placed at the military base, was taken to Honduras and then picked up by a Venezuelan state airline, Canvasa, which was sent by the Venezuelan government.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro’s government had said that it had requested the return of Venezuela that was “illegally” in Guantanamo.
“They are not guilty, they are not bad people, they were people who migrated as a result of sanctions [of the United States] … In Venezuela, we welcome them as a productive force, “Maduro said.
According to the UNHCR, about 8 million people have left Venezuela since 2014 as a result of the political, economic and social crisis in the South American nation.
Maduro said on Saturday that the US decision on the decision to revoke a license for US oil company Chevron for some operations in the country of South America was affected by the dialogue between the two countries, as well as flights to bring Venezuela’s migrants back home.
Already back to his country, Simanas again united with his mother and children, who embraced him, with tears, hugged and kissed. “The joy of seeing my children is very good. A great emotion,” he told CNN.
Now he says he wants to try to find opportunities he says he has always worked, has worked in construction and has surpassed his hopes to fulfill the American dream, which is full of memories that he now likes to forget.
“I have talked to everyone and they tell me that they do not go to sleep. If they do all this to stop returning the country, they succeeded. They wanted to hurt us, they succeeded,” Simanaka said about returning to Venezuela, he added, “You want to kill himself every day.”
If you or someone about you suffer from suicidal thoughts or mental health issues, please call the national suicide prevention lifeline in the United States at 1-800-273-8255. Click here To help Latin American countries and Spain. Get more information cnne.com/ayuda.
