Venezuela accuses US of ‘kidnapping’ toddler who was separated from deported parents
CNN
Venezuela is demanding that a 2-year-old girl be returned to her family after the United States deported her parents and kept the toddler in government custody.
Venezuela is demanding that a 2-year-old girl be returned to her family after the United States deported her parents and kept the toddler in government custody. The Venezuelan foreign ministry on Monday accused the US of “kidnapping” Maikelys Antonella Espinoza Bernal, saying she was separated from her mother as she was boarding a deportation flight back to Venezuela. It also said the girl’s father, Maiker Espinoza-Escalona, had been deported earlier by the US to a notorious prison in El Salvador. “(The US) once again committed the extremely serious offense of separating families and removing a minor from her emotional environment and, in particular, from her biological mother,” read a statement from the Venezuelan government on Monday. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) denied it kidnapped the girl, arguing it was trying to protect her from her parents, whom it accused without evidence of being part of Tren de Aragua (TDA), a Venezuelan gang the US has designated a terror organization. The father believes he was accused of being a gang member because he has tattoos, but he denies they have anything to do with gangs, according to his sworn declaration filed in court in early March. CNN has asked Maikelys’ mother, Yorely Escarleth Bernal Inciarte, about the allegation.
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