GÜIRIA, Venezuela (AP) — Regina Garcia Cano was the reporter for The Associated Press story that provided the first detailed information and the identities of some of the men killed in recent U.S. military strikes on suspected drug-smuggling vessels.
In interviews in dozens of villages on Venezuela’s northeastern coast, where some of the ships left, residents and relatives of Garcia Cano said the men who died were indeed drug users but were not narco-terrorists, as the Trump administration claims, or cartel or gang leaders.
Most of the nine men were piloting such a machine for the first or second time and earned at least $500 per trip, residents and relatives said. The four men who died included a fisherman, an ill-fated bus driver, a former cadet and a local crime boss. Others included laborers and a motorcycle driver.
This is an interview with Garcia Cano by her story editor, Del Quentin Wilber.
Where did the idea to continue this story come from and why did you want to write it?
A few days after the first US military strike, I visited Venezuela’s Paria Peninsula. I arrived with the goal of identifying the 11 men killed and left with an understanding of the dynamics of the area, but no exact names. People were too afraid to speak. My flight back to Caracas was still on the runway when I had already decided that I would be back in the area in a few weeks.
I am determined to identify as many men as possible due to conflicting claims by the US and Venezuelan governments about the military operation. The U.S. government has not released any information about the dead men, while the Venezuelan government has been similarly tight-lipped.
What are the challenges of providing such reports?
AP video reporter Juan Arraez and I faced several challenges in reporting this story, chief among which was the very real fear of being reprimanded by sources — particularly by the Venezuelan government — for speaking to reporters.
Repression is nothing new in Venezuela, but President Nicolás Maduro’s government has stepped it up since last year’s presidential election, when ruling party loyalists declared him the winner despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. In the days after the election, more than 2,000 people were arrested, some for social media posts critical of the government.
Relatives of some of the men killed in the strikes were particularly afraid to speak to the AP because police and state intelligence agents raided their homes shortly after their loved ones’ deaths.
What did you find when you got there?
Apart from fear, I also saw crushing poverty throughout the journey. Closed shutters, abandoned houses, very long queues of vehicles and motorcycles waiting for fuel, crumbling infrastructure. We also got to admire the breathtaking natural beauty of Venezuela.
How did you verify what people told you?
We spoke to several people from several communities who knew the men at different stages of their lives. We used social media posts and publicly available information to confirm some of the information.
Has anyone in particular left a lasting impression on you?
The lack of information has affected the lives of all the people living in these villages. Relatives have not been able to mourn their loved ones properly even though they know they have died because the government will not confirm the deaths and can punish them if they hold a funeral.
I know how important mourning can be. I have lost loved ones in recent years, and mourning rituals have helped me make sense of each loss. These families may never have that opportunity.
Relatives of some of the men expressed dismay at what they described as an ambiguous loss.