Recommended
Colombian academic Leonardo Escobar Ramos, a professor at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Puebla, reported this Monday that he was the victim of an arbitrary detention, physical assault, theft of his belongings, and abandonment by Mexican authorities following a layover in Monterrey and after remaining missing for several days in Nuevo León, in northern Mexico.
In a press conference, Escobar Ramos stated that he was detained on December 31st by members of the National Guard and remained incommunicado for three days in a cell in the municipality of Pesquería, Nuevo León, without any official record of his detention.
"For three days, I was in a cell in the municipality of La Pochaca, where I was taken by the National Guard. Before going to that cell, I was beaten by the National Guard, which resulted in three fractured ribs... which has been medically verified," he stated.
According to his testimony, after being released, he remained disoriented and without his belongings, which prevented him from completing his trip. Upon arriving at the Monterrey airport, he asserted that he was again stripped of his personal items and subsequently prevented from remaining in the airport terminal.
"There came a point where I was denied entry to the Monterrey airport for reasons unknown to me... the police moved me further and further away from the airport, which, without documents, without money, and without anything, led me to a completely vulnerable situation," he recounted.
Escobar Ramos noted that he spent four days wandering without access to food, water, or institutional assistance, until he was in an extreme situation, "I was practically pushed into a homeless situation," he explained.
According to his account, he was rescued by a patrol associated with a rehabilitation clinic in the municipality of Juárez, whose occupants mistook him for a homeless person and transported him to the center, where he remained unconscious for ten days.
"They say that during these days I only remained silent, I didn't speak, I didn't provide details about my identity, and I only drank water," he noted.
He fully regained consciousness on the 15th and managed to identify who he was and where he worked.
"There was a lack of record regarding my detention, I never appeared (in the National Registry of Detentions), which is, by far, an irregularity," he stated.
He also asserted that he was not informed of his rights, "they say that I refused to communicate with my relatives, and I recall that the agents themselves told me that they would not grant me that right," he maintained.
Escobar Ramos also reported a lack of medical attention, despite his physical and mental state, as well as possible discriminatory treatment toward Colombian citizens.
"Colombians working in Mexico... are the only Latin American nationality required to fill out a pre-entry form with absolutely all of our data," he said.
[Publicidad]