A Venezuelan toddler who had been kept in US government custody after her parents were deported has been returned to Venezuela.
Maikelys Antonella Espinoza Bernal arrived at the Simón Bolívar International Airport on Wednesday on a repatriation flight from the US.
Venezuelan First Lady Cilia Flores carried the 2-year-old in her arms as officials announced the girl’s return to reporters gathered at the airport.
“Today we have a great victory,” Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said.
Venezuela had been demanding that the United States return the girl for weeks, accusing US officials of kidnapping her.
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) previously denied the allegations and reiterated after their reunion that it was trying to protect Maikelys from her parents, whom they accused without evidence of being part of criminal group Tren de Aragua (TDA), which the US deems a foreign terrorist organization.
“The child’s mother, Yorely Escarleth Bernal Inciarte, oversees recruitment of young women for drug smuggling and prostitution for Tren de Aragua. For the child’s safety, she was not removed with the mother,” DHS Public Affairs Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement Wednesday.
Maikelys’ mother has rejected that claim.
McLaughlin also alleged that the father was an involved in the sale of illicit drugs and sex trafficking, among other crimes, and is “locked up in CECOT,” referring to El Salvador’s maximum security mega-prison.
Maikelys’ father believes he was accused of being a gang member because of his tattoos, but denies they have anything to do with gangs, according to his sworn declaration filed in court in early March.