He Is Being Sued in the U.S. for Human Rights Abuses. He Could be Deported First.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/world/americas/human-rights-lawsuit-quero-silva.html?unlocked_article_code=1.A1A.PdMN.zPihxrF-7IRy&smid=url-share



He Is Being Sued in the U.S. for Human Rights Abuses. He Could be Deported First.

Rafael Quero Silva faces a lawsuit brought by five people who say he oversaw their abuse and mistreatment as a military officer in Venezuela. But he could be deported before the case is heard.


The handsome actor, who appeared on a telenovela with salt and pepper locks under a baseball cap marked “POLICE,” seemed familiar to Venezuelan exiles who watched the show.

It wasn’t long before he was recognized as the lieutenant colonel who ran a notoriously repressive military unit in Barquisimeto, Venezuela.

Rafael Quero Silva, a former officer in Venezuela’s National Guard, was once accused by dozens of people and several human rights organizations of ordering violent military raids and the torture of detainees who were arrested after massive crackdowns on antigovernment protests in 2013 and 2014.

At some point after the protests ended, Mr. Quero Silva left the national guard.

Then, in 2018, Venezuelans living in the United States discovered that he had a new life in the Miami suburbs as a television extra on the Spanish-language soap opera “My Perfect Family.”