WILLEMSTAD - The regime of President Nicolás Maduro is said to have stationed a former soldier at the consulate in Curaçao to put pressure on Venezuelan migrants to return to their country.
Employees of the Venezuelan consulate in Willemstad wrote this in a letter that has been delivered to the Spanish-language media on the island. The letter was signed by all nine employees. They report that they have not received any salary for 5 months. The consul, they wrote, would have said they should just complain to the US consulate because the US must be held responsible for their situation. The consulate has not been functioning for months: no computer is still working and due to payment arrears, many services such as access to the internet have been closed.
The employees feel intimidated and threatened by their "colleague" Sergio Armando Gutiérrez Moreno, a former security guard of the former president of the Supreme Court in Caracas who is again a sister of the consul. The former soldier entered Curaçao illegally, but the consul has arranged a residence permit for him.
He visits Venezuelan migrants locked up in the aliens barracks of the prison. This is done with the consent of the Curaçao authorities who say that the official is only allowed to provide consular assistance to his countrymen and has no access to Venezuelans who have applied for asylum.
The local human rights organization Human Rights Caribbean questions that reading. According to the organization, the consulate is putting pressure on migrants to return.