A group of people gathered in front of the Trinidad and Tobago Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela on Tuesday (February 8) to protest the death of a Venezuelan baby at the hands of the Coast Guard last Saturday.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Coast Guard had reported on the weekend that a Venezuelan migrant infant died in a security operation when a vessel illegally crossed the maritime border.

In a statement on Sunday night, the Coast Guard said one of its patrol ships ordered the vessel to stop and later fired at the vessel’s engines in an attempt to force it to halt, only later discovering that it was carrying migrants on board.

“Further checks discovered one (1) adult female who was holding an infant who she indicated was bleeding,” the statement said, adding the woman was taken to a local health facility.

“Regrettably, the infant was found unresponsive.”

On Tuesday, protesters outside the T&T Embassy raised banners, one of which stated “Being Venezuelan is not a crime”, and played audio they claimed was of the child’s mother, Darielvis Sarabia, after the incident.

“Cousin, last night the Coast Guard caught us and that was gunshots. They killed the little boy in my hands, my son was dead, his head exploded. I am shotted too,” the voice in the audio stated.

One of the protesters in Caracas declared to the Venezuelan media that they were tired of Venezuelans being seen as criminals and demanded respect for those who seek out new opportunities far from the South American country suffering from a devastating economic crisis.

On the weekend, T&T Prime Minister Keith Rowley said he had spoken with Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez about the incident and hoped for better future cooperation between Trinidad’s Coast Guard and Venezuela’s National Guard.

“I expressed my deepest sympathy on my own behalf and of all the people of Trinidad and Tobago with respect to the unfortunate loss of life of the baby,” Rowley said in a statement on Sunday night.