“I Have No Resentment”: Journalist Mario Guevara Returns to El Salvador After US Deportation
Olocuilta, El Salvador - Journalist Mario guevara arrived in El Salvador this morning, October 3rd, after being deported from teh United States. He was greeted by a gathering of national and international journalists. Despite spending over three months in a detention center in Georgia, Guevara expressed optimism.
“It wasn’t like I wanted to come to my land, but thank God,” he stated upon disembarking from a vehicle. He acknowledged the emotional toll of leaving family behind, saying, “I feel with my heart split because I leave half of my family and I here. I am strong,strengthened.”
Guevara described the harsh conditions of his detention, recounting being held for four hours at a time with shackled wrists. “That is the treatment that the United States gave me after so many years of working, but it doesn’t matter,” he said, adding, “I have no resentment with the United States government as they are only following orders.”
He characterized his experience as “emotional torture” inflicted upon undocumented immigrants facing arrest. Guevara detailed 70 days spent in solitary confinement, describing a cell measuring 2 by 3 meters where he was allowed only two hours a day to bathe and see sunlight.This confinement led to sleep disorders, loss of appetite, and delusions of persecution.
“They are torturing our people emotionally,” he said, visibly moved. “Yes they give us food, they give us accessories that we need, soap, toothpaste, etc., but emotional torture is to have you locked up incommunicado with your family, this terrible, very terrible.”
Guevara recalled being pressured to sign his deportation papers, stating, “The officers arrived and told me ‘signing your deportation or you will take months in jail’ and I said, I will sign it, but in the presence of my lawyers, and they were silent.”
despite maintaining his innocence, Guevara acknowledged losing his legal battle after 110 days of detention.He expressed gratitude to the five lawyers who assisted him pro bono, fighting for his case until the end.
“I’m going to be humiliated, because they have humiliated me, but with my forehead high because I have not committed any crime,” he affirmed. “I have not violated the law before anyone and even though the government says that I am a danger, the truth is that I am only a worker father who loves, as you, the profession of journalism and paid the high price.”
Guevara plans to continue his journalism career from El Salvador with his news channel and intends to document his experience in a book. He concluded with a sentiment of enduring affection for the United States, stating, “I love the United States. The United States is my second homeland because from there they are my children. Someday I will return.”
