Venezuelan ex-colonel deported after ICE ties him to torture of protesters
Aug 18, 2026Miami, FLVenezuela
ICE removed Rafael José Quero Silva, a former colonel in Venezuela's Bolivarian National Guard, to Venezuela on Aug. 18, 2026, following a Department of Justice immigration judge's removal order. ICE arrested him in Miramar, Florida in February 2025 after he overstayed his 2016 admission at Miami International Airport. Officials allege he oversaw the detention and torture of at least 74 anti-Maduro protesters in 2013 while commanding a National Guard detachment.