Posted on 03/12/2025 10:49:42 AM PDT by ransomnote
With his hands and feet handcuffed, tied leg to leg with other detainees, José Daniel Simancas Rodríguez was put on a plane. He says he was told he would go to Miami.
Hours later, when they landed, Simancas and his fellow passengers were transferred to a bus with the windows covered by bags. By then he already suspected where he had arrived: Guantanamo. What he did not imagine was that this was just the beginning of a nightmare that would last 15 days.
Simancas was one of 177 Venezuelans deported by the United States who had been transferred to the US naval base in Cuba, a measure criticized by human rights organizations who say the base is not appropriate for housing migrants.
He says he can attest to these complaints: in the place where they locked him up, there was barely a sheet and pillow, they gave him almost no food and he was completely isolated, Simancas told CNN. The only sound that accompanied him during what he describes as “hell” were the screams of the other prisoners. The experience was so unbearable that, he says, he even thought about suicide.
Although at some point he had been told that he would be deported, the 30-year-old Venezuelan feared that he would never see his five children again. “I had already completely given up,” he recalls.
According to UNHCR, almost 8 million people have left Venezuela since 2014 as a result of the political, economic and social crisis in the South American nation.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Court documents allege that Simancas re-entered the United States illegally after being expelled the first time but he says this is not true.
He says he had almost no food at GITMO, but he ate 3 meals per day (not enough per serving).
He was separated from other deportees and sent to Guantanamo because he is from a place in Venezuela associated with Tren de Aragua, gang (Maracay, Aragua), and because he has tattoos. He said he is a construction worker and wanted to perform this work in the US.
He talks about crying every day he stayed in GITMO and being afraid he would never see his 5 children again, but he also says he arrived illegally in the United States in May 2024 by passing through the dangerous Darien jungle. he lived in Ecuador until 2022 and then spent time in Panama, Costa Rica and Mexico while continuing his journey north. So it doesn't seem like he sees his 5 children much anyway. He says he was doing this for a better life.
He said in Guantanomo you want to kill yourself every day, and if the purpose of his detention was to traumatize him, it worked. He and other Venezuelans in GITMO were picked up and taken to Honduras Feb 20. courtesy of Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro who said, "“They are not criminals, they are not bad people, they were people who emigrated as a consequence of the sanctions [of the United States] … in Venezuela, we welcome them as a productive force, with a hug of love.”
The writers attributed for this story work for the Spanish language version of CNN, which means this tale of woe has been distributed in Venezuela and other Spanish speaking areas in South America - the word is getting around.
Oh, brother! “a nightmare that would last 15 days”. Poor baby. Let’s look at another prisoner at Gitmo who would have LOVED to have been there 15 days. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks, was captured in Pakistan on March 1, 2003, and transferred to Guantánamo Bay in September 2006. He has been detained at Guantánamo for over 18 years.
Commit a crime and guess what
Yyyeahhh. Because nobody’s word is more credible than a murderous liar’s.
If it’s CNN it’s most likely a whole-cloth fabrication.
“One man spoken with said [insert journalist’s biased argument and allegations].
That’s about the gist of it.
**in the place where they locked him up, there was barely a sheet and pillow, they gave him almost no food**
Guantanamo is in the tropics. A sheet is plenty. Almost no food-he needs to go on a diet.
What, are we supposed to feel sorry for him? He broke US law by entering our country illegally - at least twice, assuming US records to be accurate.
And I DO hope that word is spreading - throughout the US, and also Central & South America. It should lead to even more self-deportations, and significantly reduce the number of illegal crossings going forward.
CNN thinks it’s awful. I think it’s working exactly as intended, expected, and wanted by the large majority of US citizens.
“You were here, but not legally”
Who’s got the tiny violin picture?
I believed everything I saw and heard on CNN until Jake Tapper wrote that book admitting that he covered up Biden’s cognitive decline. Fool me once, CNN. Fool. Me. Once.
the horror, the horror!
FAFO
Don’t care.
Theost consistent trait with all of these ungrateful illegals is they complain about the food! Not the right food. Not enough food, even though it’s all free for them.
HE CAN CRY ME A RIVER——
AND I AM NOT ALONE IN THAT THOUGHT
I’d bet any of the J6 prisoners would have preferred a 15-day stay at Guantanamo to what they actually had to endure.
By then he already suspected where he had arrived: Guantanamo
.....
So he’s heard of Gitmo?
Good.
:)
Maybe his testimony will have people rethinking their invasion of the United States.
Don’t do what he did.
You might end up in Gitmo for a little while. Maybe permanent if you feel like killing yourself.
“they gave him almost no food”
He went on a seven day hunger strike.
DILLIGAFF?
Do I Look Like I Give A Flying F...?
IOW: There was a sheet, a pillow and food.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.