The Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) of Venezuela issued a preventive measure for family reunification in favor of the girl Maikelys Espinoza, currently illegally detained in the United States, far from her mother and her family environment. This body declared itself competent to hear the case and reaffirmed the priority of the child's best interests, who was separated from her mother, Yorely Escarleth Bernal Inciarte, during a repatriation flight to Venezuela.
The decision grants custody of the girl to her mother, a Venezuelan migrant deported to Venezuela, and requires the United States to guarantee the "safe and sound" return of the minor. "The immediate return of the girl is ordered (...) in a safe and sound manner to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela," reiterates the ruling released by the TSJ.
The ruling also orders notification to the Public Ministry and Venezuelan consular offices so that these entities activate "all legal, political, diplomatic, and multilateral action mechanisms" to enforce the measure. The Caracas government requested multilateral bodies to take urgent actions to restore the link between the girl and her family, broken on April 25 by U.S. authorities.
On the other hand, the girl's father was also deported and transferred to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador without any prior judicial process.
