STATEMENT: In Memory of Ibett Arguinzones and Wolfgang González, and in Solidarity with Our Co-founder Héctor

July 19, 2026

Our organization’s team unites in deep sorrow and a bond of absolute fraternity. Today, Sunday, July 19, after 24 days of anguish, the bodies of Ibett Arguinzones and Wolfgang González, family members of our dearest co-founder and director, Héctor Arguinzones, were located. They had been missing since June 24 following the two earthquakes that impacted Venezuela.

Throughout these weeks, Héctor Arguinzones alongside his family supported one another from afar. With their hearts in suspense, they backed the search that relatives and friends carried out entirely on their own, using their own hands and means. Today, in the face of this painful discovery, we find comfort in knowing that they can finally receive a Christian burial.

The Pain of Distance and the Cry for Justice

Héctor’s story reflects that of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans in the diaspora who endure losses from afar, facing the neglect and dehumanization of an absent State. As the director of CEPAZ stated before the U.S. Congress, “The earthquake did not create the Venezuelan crisis. It exposed it.” Our structures were destroyed and we were forced into exile, but this tragedy also reminds us that the genuine solidarity of our people is the only thing that lifts us up and allows us to pull our loved ones from the rubble.

We firmly ask the international community: Do not forget Venezuela. The catastrophe continues, and we need the world’s support to ensure that justice reaches those responsible for so much abandonment and neglect.

Our Eternal Embrace to Héctor

To our dear Héctor Arguinzones, his family, and everyone sharing in this national mourning, we send our deepest and most heartfelt condolences. There are no words for this void, but this entire team is here to hold your hand.

The way things have been handled following the two earthquakes that shook the country has served to uncover, once again and before witnesses from all over the world, the condition in which Venezuela finds itself, a reality we have denounced for decades. Yet, it reaffirms an unshakeable truth: we are not alone; we have each other.

Rest in peace, Ibett Arguinzones and Wolfgang González. Your light and the love of your family will remain forever.