A Venezuelan baby died and the mother was injured over the weekend when Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard officers fired at a boat transporting migrants, authorities from the Caribbean nation said.
The shooting happened Saturday during "security operations" at sea involving the Coast Guard and human traffickers, Prime Minister Keith Rowley said in a statement Sunday. The agency in a news release said the officers fired at the vessel's engines in self-defense after it was repeatedly ordered to stop and it attempted to ram the Coast Guard vessel.
"The vessel eventually stopped and only then it was discovered that there were illegal migrants on board who had remained hidden and were therefore not seen before," according to the Coast Guard. The mother then told officers she was bleeding and the baby "was found to be unresponsive."
The agency said the woman was stabilized and then transported to a hospital. Her condition was not immediately known Monday. The agency did not say how the baby died.
Venezuela has been going through a deep political, social and economic crisis for years, attributed to a drop in oil prices last decade and mismanagement by socialist governments. Millions of people have fallen into poverty, initially amid a severe shortage of food and medicines and followed by the inability to buy them when stores were restocked due to their diminished purchasing power. The minimum monthly wage is about $2, which inflation continues to eat up.
The crisis has driven people to migrate. The United Nations has estimated that more than 6 million Venezuelans have left the country in recent years, more than 10% of the population.
Millions have migrated to neighboring Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, but the number of Venezuelans making the treacherous journey further north to seek refuge in the U.S. is rising. In December, U.S. authorities encountered Venezuelans crossing the Mexican border illegally nearly 25,000 times, the second highest nationality after Mexicans. The number was more than double that of only three months earlier and up from only about 200 a year previously.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that some 35,000 Venezuelans have immigrated to Trinidad and Tobago in recent years, but humanitarian organizations say the figure has risen to almost 40,000 in recent months.
A group of U.N. agencies on Monday in a statement said they were "deeply saddened" by Saturday's event.
"No migrant child should ever die, whether traveling with their parents or alone. No mother wants to put the lives of her children at risk on a small ship in the deep sea, unless she has no other option," said Jean Gough, regional director for UNICEF in Latin America and the Caribbean. "Two in three Venezuelans on the move are women and children. This tragic event is a stark reminder that they are the most vulnerable among the vulnerable. They deserve special attention, protection and safety - anywhere and anytime."
Juan Guaido, leader of the U.S.-backed Venezuelan opposition, on Twitter described the shooting as "unjustified," while David Smolansky, the commissioner of the secretary general of the Organization of American States for the Venezuelan migrant and refugee crisis, called on Trinidad and Tobago to investigate the situation.
With the help of Norwegian diplomats, representatives from the opposition and the government of President Nicolas Maduro held talks last year in Mexico City in an effort to find a way out of their country's crisis. But the negotiations were suspended in October following the extradition to the U.S. of a key Maduro ally.
U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq on Monday said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urges both sides to resume the dialogue.
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A man who tried to access Drake’s Bridle Path mansion earlier this week returned to the property Saturday and was apprehended again for allegedly trespassing, Toronto police say.
The wildfire that prompted the evacuation of more than 3,000 people near Fort Nelson, B.C., was caused by a tree falling on wires, according to the municipality's mayor.
A man has been transported to hospital after police say he was stabbed in a random attack carried out by a group of teens in Toronto on Friday night.
Several hours after after police forcefully removed a camp of pro-Palestinian demonstrators from the University of Alberta, hundreds of protesters marched from downtown toward the campus.
The rolling hills leading to the hamlet of Rosebud are dotted with sprawling farms and cattle pastures -- and a sign sporting a simple message: No Race Track.
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A growing number of civilians and police officers are demanding the dismissal and arrest of Haiti's police chief as heavily armed gangs launched a new attack in the capital of Port-au-Prince, seizing control of yet another police station early Saturday.
Flash floods from unusually heavy seasonal rains in Afghanistan have killed more than 300 people and destroyed over 1,000 houses, the UN food agency said Saturday.
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Winnie Makinda, 35, says she is facing the worst crisis and lowest moment of her life because of the Kenyan government's response to floods that devastated her poor community in the capital of Nairobi.
The Biden administration said Friday that Israel's use of U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law but that wartime conditions prevented U.S. officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes.
Justin Trudeau says Meta is making billions off people, but taking no responsibility for the well-being of communities they profit from.
A man who was accused of sexually and physically assaulting a woman had his charges dropped in April, just weeks before he was set to stand trial in Toronto, due to a lack of judges in the region.
Canada is putting $76 million towards a German-led effort to help Ukraine defend itself from Russian missiles and aircraft, Defence Minister Bill Blair announced Friday.
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When you're picking something up from the floor or bending over to tie your shoe laces, you're performing "the hinge move," according to movement trainers.
A provincial coroner will be investigating the death of 68-year-old David Lippert, who suffered a cardiac arrest while waiting in a crowded emergency room in Kitchener, Ont.
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A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
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The union representing WestJet Encore pilots says its members rejected the tentative deal reached last month, with just over half voting the agreement down.
The Ontario government says it will be supporting Ontario Power Generation's plan to refurbish the R. H. Saunders Generating Station on the St. Lawrence River.
Average hourly wages among Canadian employees rose to $34.95 on a year-over-year basis in April, a 4.7 per cent increase, according to a Statistics Canada report released Friday morning.
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Canada’s top university football athletes gathered on the gridiron Saturday to show off their skills in the East-West Bowl at the University of Waterloo.
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The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.
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A cyclist turned herself in and received a fine after striking a four-year-old girl who was crossing the street to catch a school bus.
Quebecers across the province turned their gazes upwards on Friday night as a spectacular show in the sky was on display thanks to a solar storm hit the earth's atmosphere.
Dozens gathered on Lavoisier Boulevard in Ferland Park in Montreal on Saturday as a pair of white shoes were installed in memory of a mother and grandmother, who was struck and killed by an SUV almost four years ago in the St. Leonard borough.
Several hours after after police forcefully removed a camp of pro-Palestinian demonstrators from the University of Alberta, hundreds of protesters marched from downtown toward the campus.
Out-of-control wildfires in northern Alberta prompted a local state of emergency in the County of Grande Prairie early Saturday morning, as well as evacuation orders in the county and the Municipal District of Greenview.
A special air quality advisory was issued for the Edmonton area Saturday due to heavy wildfire smoke from northeast British Columbia.
Police in Shelburne, N.S., have charged a woman with attempted murder after an altercation led to a woman being stabbed on Friday.
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People living in southern Manitoba should be on the lookout for severe thunderstorms Saturday evening.
Several community groups who work with the city’s vulnerable populations gathered downtown on Saturday for an event to celebrate the impact of their work on Winnipeg.
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The 8th annual Nagar Kirtan Parade packed the streets of Regina on Saturday, bringing the Regina Sikh community and people from surrounding areas together.
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A spectacular and colourful show lit up the night sky across southwestern Ontario on Friday night.
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New stamps have been released featuring the work of five Canadian graphic novelists, including one from Guelph, Ont.
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Saskatchewan RCMP are investigating a suspicious death on Saulteaux First Nation.
Those who missed the dazzling display of northern lights in Ontario may have another chance on Saturday – so long as the skies clear.
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Conditions will be favourable for the development of funnel clouds in London and surrounding counties on Saturday, according to a weather advisory issued by Environment Canada.
Hundreds of people braved the early morning rain to get up close with London, Ont.’s emergency service personnel. Children were excited to climb aboard emergency vehicles and participate in emergency-related activities.
Family, friends, colleagues and strangers set off on a fundraising run on Saturday, marked by the memory of a man killed in the line of duty.
One person is dead after a two-vehicle crash in Innisfil Saturday morning.
South Simcoe Police opened their doors to visitors on Saturday as the police force marked its annual Police Week initiative.
What do you look for in a good bottle of hot sauce? Sweet or smokey flavours? Or, perhaps, you're a 'glutton for punishment' — the words of one person in attendance at Windsor's 2nd annual Heatseeker Hot Sauce Festival.
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Evan Bouchard scored 5:38 into overtime and the Edmonton Oilers bounced back for a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Friday.
A suspect is at large after robbing a convenience store at gunpoint in Merritt, B.C., Friday, according to local police.
After four targeted shootings in four days, Mounties in Kamloops are taking the unusual step of warning the public about two men they believe are likely to be targeted in future violent incidents.
Images of steelhead and trout flicker over long sheets of paper, brought to life in blue and green crayon rubbings by the thousands.
Thousands of messages were sent between a teenage girl in the U.S. and an Alberta man posing as a young boy, a police investigation has revealed.
After a dry winter, southern Alberta farmers were expecting it to be another tough growing season.
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The city of Elliot Lake’s arena woes are turning out to be a costly problem. The latest report that will be going before council on Monday puts the quote for repairs at $4.3 million.
The Office of the Ontario Fire Marshall has concluded its report into a fire that caused millions in damages to a property along Charles Walk in Elliot Lake back last year.
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Police in Newfoundland say patrol officers were assaulted Thursday by a "very irate male" wielding a block of cheese.
Health officials say there is an outbreak of whooping cough in eastern Newfoundland.
Ontario Provincial Police are facing tough questions about their search for a missing Newfoundland trucker whose rig was found two weeks ago in Ontario, then sent back to Newfoundland, where his body was found Monday in the trailer.
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