Disappearance of the boat “Jhonaily José” takes four years without a serious investigation

Between April, May and June 2019, three vessels disappeared at sea. Two sailed from Güiria towards Trinidad and Tobago: the boats “Jhonaily José” (April 23) and the “Ana María” (May 16); a third peñero departed from the coasts of Falcón state (June 7). Due to these events, more than 90 people are still missing. Until now the authorities have ignored the demands of the relatives of those passengers to carry out a serious investigation. They assure that mafias dedicated to human trafficking are involved

This April 23 marks the fourth anniversary of the disappearance of 28 people aboard the boat johnaily joseph between the waters of Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago. What for the Venezuelan migrants who boarded the boat would be a quick escape from the crisis that is plaguing Venezuela, turned into a trip that never had a point of arrival.

The vessel weighed anchor on April 23, 2019, around 11:00 p.m. from the La Salina pier, known as La Playita, in Güiria, Sucre state, one of the last coastal towns in eastern Venezuela. There were 38 people who boarded the boat that night, but only nine were rescued from the shipwreck, in which a 16-year-old teenager died.

Three of those rescued are men and remain detained in Sucre after being accused for the crimes of human trafficking and criminal association, but their hearings have been deferred time and time again. Another person, a minor, died days after the rescue. The rest who managed to return to the country he is silent about what happened to the boat and the other crew members.

The investigation Disappearing at sea: a search without a compassdeveloped by the team at SuchWhich during the year 2020, reveals that the Public Ministry had indications of human trafficking networks operating in the area, due to previous procedures that linked a group of men who transferred adolescents without documentation to the town of Güiria, and even so these people were released and continued to set sail on boats leaving from a port controlled by a National Guard post.

The captain of the boat, Héctor Torres, is a fugitive. Despite the events with the johnaily joseph, was not prosecuted by the Venezuelan authorities. A telephone number was registered under his name from which one of the adolescents called her mother to ask her to pay a $200 ransom. It was the same National Anti-Extortion and Kidnapping Command that gave the information to the mother of the 15-year-old teenager, who received calls five days before the boat set sail, sank and the group of 28 people disappeared.

Complaints from relatives that the disappeared were victims of networks dedicated to human trafficking have been filed in the Public Ministry (MP) for almost the same time: 36 months, that is, 144 weeks or 1,460 days.

The agency’s performance in the case has been almost negligible, according to the account of the relatives. In the last four years, the Public Ministry has changed the prosecutor handling the case at least twice, so the relatives of the disappeared have had to repeat the entire complaint procedure as if it were the first time.

The crew members of the Jhonaily José

Of the 38 passengers who boarded the vessel johnaily joseph, 29 were women, part of a profile that characterizes these cases. According to the United Nations Office against Organized Crime, seven out of 10 victims of trafficking are girls and women.

«April 23 is already four years of impunity. We have not had any type of progress in the investigations on the case, much less in terms of the detainees some type of trial. Hearings postponed thousands and thousands of times », he recounts to SuchWhich Ana Arias, mother of Luisannys Betancourt, disappeared on the boat.

Luisannys Betancourt she was 15 years old when she left her home on April 15 with two friends who came looking for her. One of her studied with her (Unyerlin Vásquez) and the other was the cousin of her classmate (Omarlys Velásquez).

His family was unaware of his plans. Days after the young woman disappeared, she called her mother, Ana Arias, crying and telling her that she wanted to return home but they would not let her. She was being charged $200 to return it. However, everything was left in words. When Arias went to the security agencies, the officials ignored her complaints.

The complaint that Arias filed directly with the National Anti-Extortion and Kidnapping Command (Conas) was ignored, despite the fact that the officials were able to trace the phone from which the young woman called her mother so that she could pick her up. The response she received was that he waited for his 15-year-old daughter to appear because “she surely went to a party.”

At the time of his disappearance, Unyerlin Vasquez He was 16 years old and was in high school. As happened in other cases, his family did not know of his plans to go to Trinidad.

The last time her mother saw her was on April 14 with Betancourt. Unyerlin did not come to sleep at her house that day. Although she used to inform her relatives about the place where she was, this time she did not.

Apart from some clothing, he only took the country card. Days after his disappearance, Vásquez sent messages to his mother telling her that everything was fine and that she would return in a few months.

Omarlys Velasquez he was 16 years old at the time of his disappearance. She lived in the house of an aunt. She never told her relatives that she intended to go to Trinidad and Tobago. Her plans were to finish her high school and then they would help her go to Ecuador, where other of her relatives live. She left her house without a passport, only with her identity card.

Another of the disappeared is Yeukarys Sifontes, who was 18 years old at the time he boarded the boat. She worked in the Güiria market selling condiments to support his son. On Tuesday, April 23, she waited for her mother, Eukaris Sifontes, to leave the house so she could go to the port to embark the johnaily joseph.

His relatives did not know where he was, they found out where he had gone a day after the boat lost track of him, through a letter he left in which he apologized for leaving his son and assured that his departure had as the sole purpose of “seeking a better future”.

Annabelle Aguilera he was 23 years old at the time of his disappearance. His family knew that he was leaving the country; he prepared the trip in advance and in coordination with a sister who was already living in Trinidad.

In March and part of April she was in Caracas visiting her mother’s house, but her friends called her to finalize the details of her departure. Anabelle Aguilera’s trip was going to be paid for by her sister, as soon as she set foot on Trinidad and Tobago, it was 300 dollars.

Before April 23, Anabelle was between coming and going, since the trip did not materialize, every day it was suspended. The connection to set sail through these boats together with her friends was done with “Noelito” and Julio Carillo (this person changed her name three times).

yenniamis medina he was 36 years old. She has four sons. Not all of his relatives knew that she would go to Trinidad and Tobago. Her husband did not agree with her departure. However, that did not stop her.

He planned the trip with Anabelle Aguilera, Angélica Mata, who was rescued on Isla de Patos; Zulmaris Patinez and Ruth Patinez. In order to board, she sold a BluRay, this to give a first part of the 300 dollars that they were charging her. According to his relatives, he would go to work, but he never detailed what. It is believed that Angélica, his niece, has information about what happened to the boat.

She did not embark in the port of Güiria but in front of Guacharaco, at the entrance of one of the hotels where other crew members were locked up.

Yocselys Rojas, 20 years old, lived with her mother Milexis Rojas in Güiria. Her family was unaware of her plans to leave for Trinidad and Tobago. The last time her mother saw her was on April 22 at 7:00 am.

He embarked with a teenager and Estefani Flores, previously coordinated with Yuleibi Lezama, who charged $200 to return it.

Relatives without answers

besides the boat johnaily joseph they sailed the Ana Maria (May 16) and a peñero off the coast of Falcón state (June 7). Due to these events, more than 90 people disappeared.

At the end of 2019, the committee of relatives of the disappeared protested to the Public Prosecutor to demand that the State take action to clarify the case. The response they received from the agency was that the investigation was “advancing”, but they did not give further details to the relatives.

On the day of the protest, the relatives went to the Interpol headquarters in Caracas. In the entity they learned that the Prosecutor’s Office had not shared the information on the disappearance of the boat and that for this reason, the yellow alert for the disappeared had not yet been activated, and the red alert for those presumed responsible for the disappearance of the boat. .

On February 20, 2020, the relatives they protested again to demand answers from the authorities. At that time, officials from the Public Ministry promised that new prosecutors would be appointed to investigate the cases, so they would have to provide data again, the same data that they had repeated over and over again.

In December 2020, the prosecutor appointed by the defunct constituent assembly, Tarek William Saab, recognized the existence of gangs dedicated to human trafficking and smuggling from Güiria, Sucre state, after a shipwreck occurred between the coasts of that town in Sucre and Trinidad. and Tobago, in which more than 30 people drowned.

At the end of 2021 the demonstration was repeated. Even in January 2022 andl National Committee of Families Victims of Disappearances and Trafficking on the coasts of Venezuela (Mayday Confavidt) reported that relatives of migrants who disappeared at sea resumed the peaceful protest in the streets to demand that the Public Ministry resume the search for these people and take action on the matter.

The relatives met at the offices of the Public Ministry in the states of Falcón and Sucre to demand answers from the authorities about the cases, since lhe promises of the MP were never fulfilled and the case has remained on a list of names and a wait that is endless on the part of the mothers, fathers and siblings who await the arrival of their family member.

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