Killed migrant baby's mother undergoes surgery

DARIELVIS SARABIA, the mother of a one-year-old baby who was shot dead by the Coast Guard during an incident at sea earlier this month, was said to be undergoing surgery on Tuesday morning for a gunshot wound to her shoulder which she sustained during the same incident.

This was revealed by Sarabia's husband Yermi Santoyo during a brief interview on Tuesday.

Santoyo said Sarabia was due to undergo the surgery at the Sangre Grande hospital where she has been warded ever since the February 5 incident which claimed the life of their son.

Doctors have indicated to Sarabia's relatives that a metal plate will be surgically placed in her shoulder to help hold bones in place and aid in the healing process as there was significant damage caused by the impact of the bullet. Prior to surgery, she was said to be in a stable condition but in a lot of pain.

Sarabia and her son were in a boat with about 37 other people heading to Trinidad on Saturday February 5, when it was intercepted by the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard in a subsequent press release – its only public statement since the incident – claimed that its officers had to fire shots in an attempt to disable the pirogue's engines after attempts were made to ram the Coast Guard vessel.

However, some of the migrants who were detained and kept at a detention centre in Chaguaramas following the incident, gave a different account to lawyers retained to seek their legal interests. They claimed the Coast Guard gave no warning and fired two flares one of which landed in the boat containing the migrants. They said the Coast Guard officers then opened fire.

All of the migrants except Sarabia and her daughter Danna were later deported back to Venezuela.

Neither the police service, the Coast Guard nor the Ministry of National Security have given any update on the status of the investigation surrounding the shooting death of baby Yaelvis.