Venezuelan journalist Madelein García published on her Instagram account a video that has generated shock: Rosana Fajardo, the influencer couple, and automotive event animator, Luis Manuel Rivas Velásquez, known on social networks as “Manuel Cold” Donald Trump in the Everglades of Florida.
In the video, the woman expresses with pain: “We are in Miami and yesterday died in ‘Aligator Alcatraz’ due to negligence of the United States government, requested medical attention and did not give it to them.”
Fajardo also assured that Manuel Cold was full of sores and fed “only once a day”, so he requested help to move the body to Venezuela. “What just justice is done, the inhuman conditions that are living there, we were just waiting for deportation, he signed it, but they never took it out,” he said.
Family members denounced “cruel and inhuman treatment” against cold in Trump’s megacárcel, this was reported by Manuel Frio, Ada Velásquez, in a post on Instagram, who explained that “he had days detained there waiting for him to be deported” so she also requested that the body be repatriated to the country.
“(…) All the people who are there are in a precarious situation, with a single meal a day, they are all with COVIC-19 and my brother requested medical assistance yesterday and denied it,” he reiterated.
What is “Aligator Alcatraz”?
“Aligator Alcatraz” is a immigration detention center built in record time on a protected wetland in Florida. Since its opening on July 1, 2025, it has been subject to multiple complaints of inhuman conditions:
Extreme overcrowding in flood vulnerable tents.
Foods in poor condition, sometimes with worms.
Lack of drinking water and functional health services.
Constant exposure to light, preventing rest.
Denial of medical care, even in urgent cases.
Reactions and demands
Organizations such as Florida Immigrant Coalition have described the center as “a moral atrocity” and “a public health crisis.” Mexican legislators and human rights defenders have demanded their immediate closure.
The death of Manuel Cold adds to a growing list of cases that have lit alarms about the treatment of migrants in this center. The mayor of Miami-Dade, Daniella Levine Cava, has requested immediate access to the facilities and constant monitoring. Meanwhile, relatives of detainees denounce that there are no access to lawyers, telephones or basic medical care.
