The 28-year-old Venezuelan is the only migrant identified as allegedly responsible for the fire that occurred last Monday, March 27, at the Ciudad Juárez immigration station, which claimed the lives of 39 foreigners and injured 27 others.
Jeison Daniel Catarí traveled more than 5,000 kilometers to reach Ciudad Juárez, in Mexico, with the intention of crossing over to the United States in search of the American dream. But misfortune overtook him: he is now wounded and detained in Mexican territory.
The 28-year-old Venezuelan is the only migrant identified as allegedly responsible for the fire that occurred last Monday, March 27, at the Ciudad Juárez immigration station, which claimed the lives of 39 foreigners and injured 27 others.
The authorities point out that he started the fire.
Although they have not revealed the identity of any of the possible perpetrators, Jeison Daniel is already in custody to be brought before a judge and is one of the nine people who are behind bars.
The Public Ministry of the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR) charges him with the crimes of intentional homicide, injuries and damage to the property of others.
The young man had been living in Mexico illegally for three months and had tried, on several occasions, to cross into the United States without success. That Monday he was at gate 33 of the wall that separates Juárez from El Paso when an immigration patrol stopped him.
The brutal city-wide raid had overwhelmed the Ciudad Juárez detention center. Authorities had been taking away migrants since morning.
Hours later, the tragedy occurred.
After the incident, the young man was admitted to the General Hospital of Zone number 35 of the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS), where his condition was reported as delicate after being injured in the fire at the immigration station where he was detained on Monday from 3:00 in the afternoon.
He was discharged on Thursday and the arrest warrant obtained based on statements from other migrants who allegedly identified him by physical characteristics was executed.
“Those who have pointed it out are the other migrants and, as I commented, I could not give more elements at this time, because it is part of the investigation, but it is pointed out by the same migrants who testified,” said Sara Irene Herrerías, Head of the Specialized Prosecutor for Human Rights in the FGR.
Such an accusation surprised the family of Jeison Daniel. In an interview with the newspaper La Verdad de Juárez, Daniela Catarí, his sister, described him as a calm person, who has never had legal problems in any of the countries through which he has passed on his way to reach US territory.
“I am surprised to learn that they blame him for the fire, that he started it, I don’t know what could have led him to that, I can describe him as a peaceful person, who likes to get ahead, excel, lives life very relaxed,” he said the woman.
He assured that no Mexican or consular authority has contacted them to inform them about his brother’s condition and they have not had any luck in any of the telephone calls they have made to hospitals and dependencies in Ciudad Juárez.
“We don’t know anything, we want to know who accuses him that he was directly responsible for the fire, what evidence they have… he is a person, that I can say, he is calm, that’s why I am surprised to find out that they say that he is one of the people who started the fire It surprised me,” he said.
Family demands to know why they accuse him
At the time of being detained by the National Migration Institute, Jeison Daniel was with his friend Óscar José and another boy he met in the Darién jungle on his way to Mexico.
“They sent us messages to tell us what had happened and we didn’t believe them, but they sent us a photo when they were brought in the van; We never imagined that it would be Óscar’s last,” said some migrants interviewed by the Mexican newspaper, while they showed that portrait that was saved on their cell phones.
They commented that they were also able to make a video call with the detainees, but they could no longer speak anything, they only saw them when they were being transported in the trucks to take them to the immigration station.
In the end, when they were admitted to the cell, they took all their belongings, but one of them managed to keep his cell phone and recorded a video that he posted on his WhatsApp account.
In the audiovisual, Daniela said, her brother “seemed calm walking through the bathroom area.”
“I don’t understand what could have happened for them to say that it was he who started the fire,” he said.
He specified that when they first saw the videos of the fire, they did not notice his brother’s presence, because they did not even know that he was among those arrested and injured, it was not until after the friends let them know what had happened that they saw the images in detail. .
With Final Version information