Latino who was detained in Guantanamo tells what he experienced: 'I don't plan on leaving my country again'

Deportation measures for illegal immigrants in the United States have increased following the new administration of Donald Trump.

Among those affected is Kevin Rodríguez , a Venezuelan citizen who went through a complex process before being sent back to his country.

Rodríguez recounted her experience in an interview with Noticias Telemundo, where she recounted her stay in prison for two weeks. “When we arrived there were even cobwebs. The cells were in very bad condition and it was obvious that they had not been inhabited for some time. They didn't even clean them, there were ants and there was nothing left to eat,” she mentioned.

The space where he stayed was small. He was transferred along with 178 Venezuelan citizens on military flights to the Guantanamo naval base , located in Cuba.

“We were enduring the cold, the food was really bad and very little. The last meal of the day was at four in the afternoon. At seven, eight, nine at night, we were very hungry,” he said.

During his stay, he said the conditions caused him to lose approximately four kilograms of weight . He also said he witnessed mistreatment of other detainees and that routines within the centre were strict.

“To bathe, we were taken out every three days and handcuffed by the police. Then they searched us before we went in to bathe. When we came out, they searched us again,” he added.

After several days in detention, Rodríguez described the profiles of the people who remained with him . “There were people who had never even entered the United States, who didn’t even have tattoos, people who really weren’t linked to any gang and they treated them the same, they treated us all the same. They practically discriminated against us for being Venezuelan,” he said.

Information from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) indicates that of the 178 Venezuelans at the base , 51 had no criminal record, 126 had a criminal record, and the remaining 80 were identified as alleged members of the Aragua Train.

While Rodriguez was dealing with this situation, his family was also going through moments of anguish. A few days before he was released (February 15), his father, Nelson, expressed his concern in an interview with Telemundo. “Please help me, not only me, but all their parents, all their relatives who have their children there, who don’t know anything about them,” he said.

Rodriguez was eventually sent back to his country. His family watched him get off the plane on Thursday, February 20, in a television broadcast.

"I really don't plan on leaving my country again, because I was truly traumatized by everything I went through," he concluded about his experience.

The Nation (Argentina) / GDA

*This content was rewritten with the assistance of artificial intelligence, based on information from La Nación, and was reviewed by a journalist and an editor.