The family of Stevan Riaño Cepeda, a young man from Bogotá who, according to his close circle, is living a true nightmare, He has just turned 24 in a room at the Cancun International Airport, in Mexico, after being detained for five days.
According to Gina Rincón, who is the sister of Riaño's girlfriend, the idea was to take a family outing in the renowned tourist destination. She, who lives in the United States with her partner, organized a 20-day trip. Stevan, who lives in Bogotá, would be at least three.
As evidenced by the tickets purchased by Stevan, His arrival in Cancun was scheduled for the early hours of Thursday, January 18.. Since then, his close circle alleges, he has been detained by immigration officials of the North American country.
“They detained him as soon as he arrived. We went to the airport the first few days, but no one answered us. We got a lawyer and he helped us file a protection so that at some point they would give us explanations. He told us that what they were doing with him is illegal and that they do it of their own free will,” Rincón tells EL TIEMPO.
(You may be interested in: Colombian women who were reported missing in Mexico have already been repatriated).
'The conditions are terrible, they are not humane'
According to the woman, who has published several videos on her social networks to publicize the situation, the young man remains in a room where the conditions would not be the most optimal. And, she maintains, The treatment is worse after they filed the appeal for protection.
“They tell me that the place is super small, with mats on the floor and only one bathroom. They don't have a shower. They treat them terribly, as if they were criminals. They insist that he give up the protection or they will take away his food, they are telling him that 'he is going to stay for 20 days'“says Rincón, who comments that two people who shared with Stevan at the airport and who were deported to Colombia already spoke with her.
“I have spoken to two people who Stevan gave my number to. According to what Camila told me, one of them, There are at least 30 Colombians who are locked up at the Cancun Airport. “It's a terrible situation we're experiencing,” he says.
(Also: Colombian who migrated to the US died after spending 15 days in a coma: family asks for help).
“Stevan is insulted and pushed. The conditions in which they are kept there are terrible, they are not humane. He is hurting himself, he is scratching himself because they are treating him badly. “He hasn't stopped crying,” he says.
As the woman expresses, they have been able to speak with Stevan on two occasions. In both, she denounces, they perceived coercion from supposed officials.
“Esteban called us last night, at 11 pm, with a person from Immigration who yelled at him not to cry, who gave him the cell phone with that condition and to remove the lawyer quickly,” he says.
“This morning, around 11, he called us and told us that They told him that they were going to take away his food if he did not give up the protection. It has been very difficult for us. “If we take away his protection, he will have the stamp in his passport like a criminal,” he says.
The complaint to the authorities
According to Gina Rincón, the family was already able to speak with the Colombian consul in Cancún. She, she claims, told them that The reasons given for the Mexican Migration Institute were three.
”The first is that he had a backpack and not a travel suitcase. The second was that because he did not have credit cards and that is a lie, because he had them. And the third was that he did not have a paid hotel and it's a lie because he had the Airbnb reservation, which was already paid for.”he maintains.
Likewise, Rincón assures that the consulting office told them that if they removed the protection they could release it more quickly. However, he indicates, they do not plan to do it because what is happening has been happening for a long time. Meanwhile, he says, the consular office assured him that They would be very attentive to the case and would ensure Stevan's rights.
EL TIEMPO contacted members of the Colombian Foreign Ministry to obtain their information on the case. However, at the time of publication of this article, there had been no response.
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