Former Venezuelan Guard Commander Deported After U.S. Human-Rights Ruling

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) removed former Venezuelan National Guard officer Rafael José Quero Silva to Venezuela in August. The deportation followed a Department of Justice immigration judge’s final removal order. Quero Silva, who entered the United States at Miami International Airport on June 20, 2016 and later overstayed his visa, was arrested in Miramar in February 2025. While in U.S. custody at the Krome Detention Center, he remained the subject of a civil lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Florida under the Torture Victim Protection Act.

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During the early years of Nicolás Maduro’s rule, Quero Silva commanded the 47th Detachment of the Bolivarian National Guard in Barquisimeto. ICE and U.S. officials say he supervised the torture of at least 74 peaceful protesters in 2013, employing electric shocks, beatings with nightsticks, frozen-water bottles, and rape threats. After leaving Venezuela, he worked as a television extra on the Spanish-language telenovela *My Perfect Family* in 2018, where community members recognized him and alerted authorities. Five Venezuelan men subsequently sued him in federal court, alleging direct and command responsibility for the abuses.

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• 74 protesters allegedly tortured under his command (ICE).

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• 5 plaintiffs filed the civil suit (court filings).

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• ICE reports it has arrested more than 520 individuals for human-rights violations and deported 1,178 known or suspected violators.

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U.S. officials noted that the civil lawsuit can proceed despite the deportation, allowing the plaintiffs to continue seeking damages.

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• “We will fight to make sure that there is justice, even if it is in absentia,” — Ms. Bernabeu, an international human rights lawyer representing the plaintiffs

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