Venezuelan asylum seeker, shot and killed in Trinidad

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it is ‘deeply saddened” at the murder of a Venezuelan asylum seeker, who was shot as he left the UNCHR building on the outskirts of the capital on Thursday.

Police have since detained one person in connection with the murder of Alexander Cedeno Roroba.

“UNHCR is deeply saddened by the shooting death of an asylum seeker from Venezuela in Port of Spain Thursday morning. We offer our sincere condolences to the victim’s family and friends.

“We have confidence that the authorities of Trinidad and Tobago will conduct an exhaustive investigation into this terrible crime and bring those responsible to justice,” the UNHCR said in a statement late Thursday.

Police said that while no motive had yet been determined for the killing, the killer had waited in a vehicle for the Venezuelan national and shot him several times before driving off.

The suspect was intercepted by police as he tried to change vehicles.  Homicide detectives who were called to investigate the shooting got help from businesses in the area, whose CCTV cameras captured the killer as he got into the car and drove off.

Several Venezuelan nationals have been coming to Trinidad and Tobago in a bid to flee the economic and political situation in the South American country where the Opposition leader Juan Guaidó’ backed by the United States and its allies are seeking to remove President Nicolas Maduro from office.